Bill Gates: Cyber ​​attacks supported by artificial intelligence are the most dangerous and imminent threat

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Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates warned on Sunday that unregulated artificial intelligence poses a growing threat, anticipating an escalation in cyberattacks supported by artificial intelligence over the next year.

The American billionaire said that the risk of artificial intelligence getting “out of control” is still looming in the coming years, stressing that the immediate source of concern is “bad people” who use current systems without controls or protection measures.

Gates said in an interview with ABC News, "The front that we will likely see the greatest impact over the next year is cyberattacks."

“The real danger right now is not that AI gets out of control,” he said. “It is true that we need to work on this issue, but its potential major impact is still years away.”

“The real problem is artificial intelligence being used by ill-intentioned people, especially when all the controls and protections built into it can be removed,” he added.

He also said, "But at the present time, it is permissible to remove all these controls and protection measures. When ill-intentioned people, without any guarantees, meet with the latest artificial intelligence models, this is precisely where we will face, during the next year, many negative surprises, especially in the field of electronic attacks."

Gates joins other leaders in the technology sector who are sounding the alarm about the threats posed by artificial intelligence technologies, and he warned in a lengthy blog post published in August that the world is dangerously unprepared for the disruptions that artificial intelligence may cause, especially in the labor market.

In his interview on Sunday, he rejected the idea that self-regulation by artificial intelligence companies is enough to keep the world safe, an idea defended by US President Donald Trump.

“The idea that the most dangerous technology ever created by humans can only be controlled through self-regulation, and that companies themselves are the only ones policing it on behalf of society...reflects that we are not doing enough,” Gates said.