Head of Microsoft Corporation Warns About Risks of Artificial Intelligence

Rapid Development of AI Raises Concerns

The head of Microsoft Corporation said on Friday that the rapid development of artificial intelligence threatens to repeat the mistakes made by the technology industry at the beginning of the era of social networks.

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are raising concerns around the world that this technology can spread misinformation, misuse it, and disrupt the job market.

Brad Smith told a business forum on Friday that the developers of the technology had no such doubts, noting that their optimism reminded him of the early days of social media platforms.

Lessons from the Early Days of Social Media

During that time, Smith says, the tech industry has “been a little excited about the good that social media will bring to the world – and there are many of them – without thinking about the risks.”

“We have to have a clear eye and be enthusiastic about the possibilities, but we have to think deeply and even worry about the downsides. We have to build protective barriers from the very beginning,” Smith said.

And this week, a UN study found that AI will create more jobs than destroy them as concerns grow over the technology’s potential impact.

The study explored the potential impact of this and other platforms on the quantity and quality of jobs, noting that most jobs and sectors are only partially affected by automation.

She suggested that most of them are “likely to be complementary rather than replaced by the latest wave of generative artificial intelligence like ChatGPT.”

Clearly, Smith added, people “want to make sure this new technology stays under human control.”

There are fears that chatbots could flood the Internet with disinformation, biased algorithms could create racist content, etc., and AI-based automation could disrupt entire industries.