India can show how AI delivers social and developmental gains, says Bill Gates

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has identified India as a key example of how artificial intelligence can be deployed rapidly for social and developmental benefit, even as he warned that the world may not be prepared for the scale and speed of the technology’s advance.

Describing AI as possessing a “stunning set of capabilities”, Gates said India could demonstrate how its benefits could be delivered as quickly as possible.

In an interview with NDTV, the billionaire philanthropist said AI was fundamentally different from earlier technological revolutions such as the personal computer and the internet, both of which he helped shape during his years at Microsoft.

Gates cautioned against assuming that the effects of AI would be as easy to manage as those of previous technologies. Its wide-ranging capabilities and rapid development had forced even a long-standing advocate of innovation to question whether its advance should be slowed to give societies more time to prepare, he said.

“If we could slow things down, I think we should consider that because of this need to get ready for such a rapid change,” Gates said.

Referring to his work at Microsoft and the Gates Foundation, he said he had championed innovation throughout his life. AI, however, represented a rare instance in which technological progress could be so broad and dramatic that society might not be ready for its consequences.

Gates identified cybersecurity as one of the most immediate areas of concern. He warned that AI tools could strengthen the capabilities of those carrying out cyberattacks, requiring defensive systems to evolve at an equally rapid pace.

He also raised the longer-term question of whether increasingly powerful AI systems could always remain under human control.

Gates said he had previously viewed concerns about controlling AI as a distant issue. Recent examples of unexpected behaviour by systems using reinforcement learning, however, had brought the question closer to the present.

His remarks highlighted the dual nature of AI: its capacity to accelerate development and improve lives, particularly in countries such as India, and the risks posed by societies adopting the technology without sufficient safeguards or preparation.

With IANS inputs