While attending the Gates Foundation's Goalkeepers meeting in New York, Foundation Chair Bill Gates said, "Of course, I would prefer to talk only about foreign aid and how to reduce child mortality." But he mentioned that artificial intelligence is developing rapidly, and during meetings with leaders of various countries, he has had to also discuss another issue—the question of whether society is prepared to deal with the risks brought by this technology.

AI Is Like "Ten Science Fiction Novels Playing Out at Once"

Gates said that about a year ago, the progress made by AI surprised him because the technology was already able to perform programming tasks that he himself had spent a lot of time mastering when he was young. In his view, AI can write code, study code, find vulnerabilities, and even hack into various systems. His concern is not just the capabilities of the technology itself, but that "society has not yet had enough broad participation and discussion on this exponential progress." The tech industry is already discussing the related risks, but the broader public has not been sufficiently involved.

Gates described the current changes as "the plotlines of ten science fiction novels happening at once." Traditional science fiction often focuses on a single major technological breakthrough, while AI may drive rapid changes across multiple fields simultaneously. He even compared the development of AI to an "alien invasion": "AI is different from all previous technologies. If we see it as a continuation of past technologies, we might become complacent. It is extremely special, like aliens have arrived, except these 'aliens' are created by us. They don't need to arrive in spaceships; they are placed inside computers by us."

Both a Technology User and a Risk Aware Individual

In Gates' view, addressing the challenges of AI starts with involving more people: not only using the technology but also understanding its hidden risks. "The path of humanity's future will depend on how we treat this technology," he said. He called for a full understanding of the dual nature of AI—on one hand, it can drive innovation in agriculture and public health, but on the other hand, it may also bring risks.

In his speech that day, Gates also expressed regret over the cuts in aid to low-income countries by some wealthy nations. "Economic growth continues, and corporate profits keep reaching new highs, yet governments in many wealthy countries have become increasingly stingy," he said. He emphasized that he was not calling on one part of the world to save another, but rather advocating for generous investment to promote common progress, supporting communities that, despite limited resources, are still doing their best to save lives. He called for the restoration of funding support, ensuring basic survival needs, and stressed, "If we can combine more philanthropy with the proper use of artificial intelligence, we can accelerate the goal of global equity."