AyatollahBahloni
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WSource: Newser.com - https://www.newser.com/story/395317/bill-gates-issues-a-6k-word-ai-warning.html
Link to the full essay on his website: https://www.gatesnotes.com/work/make-ai-work-for-everyone/reader/the-risks-of-ai-are-real-but-manageable
We don't like AI slop here on Imgur, but our opprobrium is most frequently heaved at AI-generated image and text. These thoughts don't even really touch on that, but are trying to cover the larger view.
Whatever you may think of Gates or his billions or his foundation or Microsoft, the man has a lifetime of experience in the computing world and is thinking cogently about potential effects on society as a whole.
My gut tells me that these are good and important points that must be added to the mix for consideration.
Obviously other people than Bill have been thinking about this and sounding the alarm, but for good or ill, his voice has global reach and it's important to consider his thoughts.
One thing he's right about for sure: we need a plan, toute de suite. Because every day that goes by, the tech bros and the billionaires *are* planning on how to monetize the hell out of AI, right now, and their plans sure as hell don't include you and me.
The prophet has spoken.
Cat tax: Spawned spontaneously from a sunbeam
Hatsodoom
Here's my solution: Gen ai is banned. No exceptions.
iamthemurray
Right, pr puff piece. I still remember those emails asking how to drug your wife because you gave her an std
bad1080
https://epsteinexposed.com/persons/bill-gates
sadurdaynight
Can't remember who said it, but the paraphrase is it takes 20 years for a new technology to work itself into society. Internet has had decades to bake. Data science abd machine learning are old concepts that we've finally had the compute power to implement past decade or so. AI as a Swiss army knife of those things has only been around 5 years? There's gonna be bumps in the road until some homeostatic balance is reached, in usage and regulation.
3rdoption
Great idea. As long as those currently in power are completely for sale to the highest bidder (well, any bidder really) and as long as those with all the money are the ones we have to reign in, I don't see how there is ANY hope of getting this accomplished EVER. But maybe I'm wrong. I'll go ask ChatGPT what it thinks.
SubTrout
Okay Bill, so STOP TRYING TO SHOVE COPILOT DOWN MY FUCKING THROAT
mangor
He's not. That's someone else.
OverwhelmingSurplusOfDiggity
Here’s a sad but real truth: yes, America really does need those fucking datacenters - both AI and non-AI - because they represent how the economy of the future will work.
They are going to be built, whether here or somewhere else. Put your power into better zoning, environmental and utility regulations instead of just saying “AI Slop” or reposting “No AI” images from your favorites.
IAmTheSlothKing
And absolutely nothing was done about any of it….
Ac1dBurn72
What's funny about the George Carlin quote is this.
He was VERY famous, and has more than enough money for his family to live comfortably. (Est net worth of $10m when he passed) And he STILL wasn't in the club.
rubypilgrim
I got downvoted for this comment, but I'm reposting because companies are beginning to find out AI isn't the dream magic they thought it would be. Some are beginning to rehire humans - because humans are cheaper, of course: https://www.techbrew.com/stories/2026/05/01/ai-makes-human-labor-look-cheap-again Not a plus, not a minus, just - the juggernaut has at least hit a human bump and staggered a bit. Stop depending on jobs from these companies for our survival. Turn on, tune in, drop out.
savagesong
I got told I have cancer and 15 hours later I was laid off form my job for AI. It’s crushing me.
UmmonPrime
Just like climate change, it'll be largely ignored because of.... money. He's not wrong but the momentum has already started and it's going to be hard to slow down with trillions of dollars at stake.
BARP
Fuck Bill Gates and his Epstein ties and he's been in bed with AI for years. He's a habitual liar and a billionaire. Nuff said.
Spanky93
Epstein Files
PushPullMagnet
Seeeesh, that article is a big pile of shit.
Yes any tool can be used to do good or bad but fuck me...
Data centers destroying the environment, jacking up electricity, financially draining communities, AI generating slop faster than slugs in heat, scammers/hackers using it 24/7.
Billionaires are soulless ghouls, plus that one is on the Epstein list, and secretly pilled his wife to get her rig of the STI he gave her from his infidelities / abuse of minors.
SpottedDickSandwich
Dude's just mad he's not getting a slice, he didn't much care for ethics in 80s and 90s.
AyatollahBahloni
Who knows? That could figure in as well. But people do change over time, and I feel as though he's making sense at the moment, enough that I'm not inclined to disregard his thoughts just on that basis.
LeoGrun19401
Microsoft is... backing down on AI, at least for consumer-facing things. And now that the real cost has been revealed even businesses are backing down because there's no clear way it actually saves money over the underpaid underclass.
Bojovnik84
Madscribe
Stealing this
Oogibah
Multiple atrocities can occur at the same time, AI is a major issue that needs to be addressed before half the country loses their jobs. People hate on AI and I'm one of them but if you think it's just gonna fizzle out and disappear you are much much more optimistic than me.
Clockworkdancerobot
Funny enough Gates is mired in both!
Oogibah
Sure is
Bojovnik84
My point was that I dont really care what Bill thinks, we already know AI is a massive problem and the Epstein class needs to be gone just like the AI they pushed on us.
bad1080
he's in it: https://epsteinexposed.com/persons/bill-gates
MagicBeets
Doesn't mean he's wrong about the AI points. Piece of shit yes, able to see and speak about AI being not great, also yes
Syovere
That's probably why parent commenter posted that image.
barf1189
I'm pro vax and pro bill gates. He's one of the few reformed billionaires that truly cares about humans. Fuck trump and fuck elon!!
arrbos
I have trouble getting past the Gates' foundation advocacy of keeping the COVID vaccines proprietary, instead of releasing the patents. He continues to profit on public money funneled to private profit.
EstoyPoopis
LOL
wejustdontknow
His wife Melinda left him because of his close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. He's not a good person. He just has enough money to put up a smokescreen for the public.
barf1189
did not watch his documentary on bringin people toilets?
SpottedDickSandwich
He has done or at least funded good things, but it doesn't make him a good person. He was a horrible person when setting up microsoft, and based on his relations with Epstein, he still is.
conMan76
no he is not... he is just much better at his personal branding and listens to his staff
ThotCriminal666
Nah, if he cared about humans, he wouldn't still be a billionaire. Fuck 'im.
barf1189
Yes he would. Hes worth 100billion. 6 billion ppl on earth. He can make 6 billion people billionaires and still have 94 billion dollars to his name!!!
Pyroofdoomandcheese
Buddy, the pop hasn't been under 7 billion since 2009, we're at 8.3 now. Doesn't change much mind, but we're in the future, old man.
ThotCriminal666
Ugh, those numbers just make me hate him more. 😂 He doesn't need to just give his money to people, he needs to build farms, housing, infrastructure and renewable energy sources to systematically lift everyone out of poverty. Until he does that, he's just a selfish prick. Oh, and he needs to also explain why he's in the Epstein files, and pay for his crimes. No billionaire deserves to be a billionaire.
barf1189
If numbers trigger you emotionally maybe you need mental help
AbsolutelyBlasted
Do you mean he can make 6 people billionaires? Not 6 billion people. He could give 6 billion people one dollar and have $94 billion left.
Bojovnik84
If he cared, he'd be doing more to spill the beans about the Epstein visits and why he is on the fucking list.
A broken clock can be right twice a day, but it is still fucking BROKEN.
barf1189
but trump is a rapist
Bojovnik84
Yes and? Gates went to the island, went to the parties and while it isn't clear if he specifically did anything with minors; he knows enough to be vocal and make it a problem for a few others. He chooses not to.
barf1189
He participated in imgur secret santa, gave out books and zelda gear to people. He nice and kind sounding and nerdy. Trump is a bully jock asshole. Bill is smart. He's not a rapist
MerlintheRogue
You know who else did good things on Imgur and helped others? Fluke Skywalker.
SpottedDickSandwich
Bill is an abuser, based on court documents against microsoft, and his ex-wife, who he supposedly gave an STD and then tried to sneak medication for from his buddy Epstein.
PapaJoeNH
You mean Bill Gates, from the EPSTEIN FILES?
LNRO
Epstein, the financier?
chiefrunswithscissors
He's been completely open about his relationship with Epstein.
TheWhiteBarry
And that makes it better?
chiefrunswithscissors
The details do make it slightly better, yes.
I can't be bothered going into it but basically he's probably not a pedo but did make a terrible judgment call by meeting with him.
HummingBirrb
Here is a solution, world wide laws forbidding replacing people with AI, it's a tool ffs, agentic AI should be banned, forcing any business who wants to use AI, to use it as an assistant tool, requiring continuous human input and review
HummingBirrb
Also, complete ban on AI art, strong unions for artists
DoggosAreLife
Unfortunately, that solution is as viable as world peace. There is no way every country would adhere to that. Possibly the EU could agree on it, but not the US, and most definitely not China.
M4UsedRollout
And this is happening during a global rise in fascism. AI should be regulated, but the will to do it is being actively suppressed. We’ve got to hope that this current era of AI being bad at most things businesses are trying to force it to do bursts the bubble. We need to get sensible governments back in order to be able to respond to AI properly.
Spoonland
one of the few comments that got the point
ACatNamedJonesy
much as dislike him, billionaires have a loud voice and he is making a few good points
CommanderWes
Fuck that he's a cunt who has the WHO in his back pocket. Nothing he says or writes can be trusted. He is one of the original tech bro millionnaires and as such, fuck him and everything he stands for.
creepwood
rugmibackward
Don't forget that in 2024 he had a show w/ Netflix called "What's Next" where he talked about how great AI is and how it will let people have more leisure time. He is not "brilliant" with this letter, he is playing the populist realizing that there are a LOT of people that could and will loose their jobs and when you have a sudden spike in joblessness things like the French Revolution happen where billioniares start to "feel the pain".
sadurdaynight
Gates and a few other billionaires are of the "can't take it with and, and stop trying to blow it up before you do" mentality. There's usually some business motive behind their goodwill, eg maybe they started a new business that will benefit from people following the billionaires advice. So the issue is you have to see if there's an ulterior motive to their generosity or insight.
IrishPub
What's the saying about a broken clock?
dedpan
Most importantly he's making POLICY proposals, not just posting "No AI! No data centers!" memes. Take note imgur. Refusing to personally use AI and/or claiming the high ground over people who do will not make a shred of difference; unions and laws will.
SuperGeniusPS
Maybe, but I've been making most of these points since ChatGPT came in the scene. These are pretty easy issues to pick out for anyone with critical thinking skills. The fact he's bringing them up now is just a way to make him look like a thought leader now the political landmine of AI and data centers is being fully realized at the polls
chata954
Yea this is shit we knew. It doesn't cost him much to say them outloud
svon1
like he still donated most of his fortune... i dislike his other escapades too... but credit were credit is due... if all of the funny Caribbean isle club would have donated as much as he did... than we may never had figured out what they were doing to begin with... and i dont know how to feel about that :I
Sh1tMovieGroup
If he, and others, were taxed appropriately, he would never need to give away a dime as government programs would be fully funded - donations are billionaire white washing, at best skew the funding of necessary things to those with "good optics" and are a drop in the ocean compared to the taxation they've bribed their way out of..
And he's still a pedo..
Zalm
That's assuming the government is competent and allocating the taxes and funding properly, and not just stealing it
Sh1tMovieGroup
well, I figured whilst I was dreaming...
TurboPuns21
We have to engage with the argument regardless of who is making it and what their net worth is. Mark Cuban is worth billions yet he has been vocal about the need for wealthy entities/people to pay their taxes. It would be nice if we were all a little more meticulous with how we formed our opinions and IMO, a more perfect society is one that is more accepting of the imperfect ally.... But this is the Internet and no one send to have time for that
ACatNamedJonesy
Mark Cuban earned my respect with his reduced prescription price pharmacy
AsheLake
I sincerely doubt he's doing it primarily to help people. He's just undercutting the market, and getting mountains of good will as a bonus.
TurboPuns21
Many amazing human accomplishments throughout history seem to come with this complex duality - the splitting of the atom for example.
Even Grand Teton National Park, which is one of the most gorgeous and most special places I have ever been, was expanded when Congress combined the original 1929 park, the Jackson Hole National Monument, and the donation of the Rockefeller family's privately purchased lands to form today's Grand Teton National Park.
notreallyaclevername
Of all the billionaires there are only a handful who I think could be considered somewhat decent, and he's one of them. He tends to use his wealth for largely good reasons, while also hoarding it. He's like a dragon in a fantasy world who pays farmers from a nearby village to gather his shit to fertilize crops.
AsheLake
I used to think like this, but no. Even his charity work is suspect. https://youtu.be/lFS9DFXtj1M
ACatNamedJonesy
yeah don't like the businessman Gates, but he's done a hell of a job working to eradicate malaria
Leithreas
The stuff with his wife and Epstein and so on is pretty damning. But I agree, he's closer to a Shadowrun dragon than some apocalyptic world-ending force.
ACatNamedJonesy
The Epstein files have got to be released, I mean even Stephen Hawking is in them and I seriously doubt that crippled man hurt little girls
DukeDarkwood
We've already heard how the files mention Obama, but never as a guest or potential guest, and always in unflattering terms. Unsurprising, since Epstein's number one client was obsessed with taking the then-President down.
Not to mention Epstein's "day job" (front) as a financier. I really doubt his two sets of clientele were 100% overlapping (that there was some overlap, I almost guarantee, though).
Context is crucial, and why the full, unredacted files need to come out.
spacecowboyein
He makes some very good points and suggestions. I doubt this administration will listen to or implement any of them though.
enterusernamehere25
hes a pedo. does everyone forget he was involved with epstein? he even personally visited epstein after he was arrested in jail for his last time in jail. shortly after that his wife divorced him
totallyruinedyourday
Fuck Bill Gates on this. His monopolistic tactics in the tech industry helped foster this extremely dangerous and unregulated AI landscape…
GanjalfTheClear
There are a lot of reasons to dislike Bill Gates. But in this case, he is right and he is being the loud voice of reason that we need.
I'm not saying you have to like the guy. But flat out rejecting what he is saying because you don't like him is how the entire world gets fucked over more than it already is.
rubypilgrim
On the third hand, what is he specifically and tangibly doing to fix this?
totallyruinedyourday
What? I am not rejecting what he is saying…I’m saying he needs to SAY more and should take accountability for his actions that led to this….what you stated is extremely irrational?
starkeclipse
"fuck Bill Gates on this" sure sounds like rejection to me.
Rangar
#4 Point 5: "Human reserved jobs" . . . like CEOs, he's talking about CEOs right?
HummingBirrb
Of course, can't you think how their life style will be ruined if you lay them off ? Have some empathy /s /joke
ariania
Unfortunately money wins here.
buttnugget99
Money always wins.
filiuspelei
The token tax is a very good idea
pixelsnader
Yes but still not good enough: it would not apply to the AI giants because they don't buy tokens they buy chips. So it just shifts where investments go. Stop taxing company profits. Start taxing company revenue. I'm taxed on my salary, I don't get to write off my house or car or clothes or food as operating expenses either.
filiuspelei
Taxing tokens would effectively tax revenue! It would tax how much people use AI, and it couldnt be gotten around by offering free services or changing the price structure.
However, it might require a constitutional amendment.
TChallaVanDam
Bernie was who I first heard suggest this. Only he called it a “Robo-tax” which is hilarious and very much fits his vibe.
Velv3tThunder
"This gun that I'm helping to hold up and point at you is gonna be a big problem for you soon." billionaire-who-was-friends-with-Epstein warns.
torokunai
Epstein was a foreign agent running honeypot/affinty-fraud entrapments in the tech space.
For some reason billg didn't have a counter-intel office screening his private life and got caught.
I don't like 99% of what Microsoft has done over the past 50 years but billg himself is not a stupid person.
wabitgirl
It really has been fascinating watching people grapple with the BG factor when it comes to billionaires. In a world where the majority of them are only too happy to tell us how happy they would be if we died and made them money in the process, Gates has managed to retain some veneer of humanity and decency, mostly through engaging with issues like this. Is he a good person? No, no billionaire is. But is he like the rest of them? Not sure, but he's at least good at pretending he's not.
DWolf
Gates just wanted to make money and was crooked in some ways he did it. The new breed want to own us.
WarThunderLeakedMySpecs
Accurate.
Between this shit and climate change we really are just gonna speedrun the end of human civilization, huh? But hey! At least the worst people alive will get to experience luxury unbound as they rape kids and torch the planet on their way out. And maybe the bones of our civilization can serve as a warning to whatever comes after us.
So anyway, what caliber retirement plan are you going with? Mine is the classic Cobain, or sleeping in the big lake in winter.
Zalm
I was considering the one man army approach, to take at least one of the ruling class with me
kimbozo
Just waiting for the right time to empty my 401k and disappear to a country with no extradition, preferably somewhere warm where i can just drink myself to death on a beach
wabitgirl
If you're going to off yourself, you may as well try to off a handful of billionaires while you're at it, no?
WarThunderLeakedMySpecs
Happily! I even have a couple local candidates.
Which one of you is gonna financially support my wife when I’m in prison? My policies would otherwise fetch about ~$350k and my employment covers probably about that much in expenses every five years, so please be prepared to at least match that.
She is literally the main reason I’m not already on a most wanted poster. I owe it to her to persist until she’s also ready to peace out, so my buy-out cost is unfortunately quite firm.
wabitgirl
Wait, I figured you were going to do the life insurance policy thing so she could collect untold millions after you died mysteriously?
That said, I will choose this man's wife.
WarThunderLeakedMySpecs
That’s an excellent way to get nothing because the insurers would have to be stupid as fuck not to contest paying. All my existing policies are at least five years old and one is a lifetime policy my folks opened in my name when I was born. None of those fucks are weaseling out of their obligations, presuming those companies survive of course. And that rule of law still persists, which is even less likely but hey. There’s always the coffee can of gems and precious metals buried in the yard.
jethroismaxbaer5772
No plan, just gonna raw dog it.
azazyel
He hasn't worked at MS for years. (fuck the Epstein bitch)
Ultratoxic
Worse. He and his vast fortune have been privately partnered with openAI for years, working to spread AI into healthcare, both front line and research areas. Now he's like "oh shit gang, this is getting out of hand"?
Colopty
Might be a similar case to Zuckerberg's sudden AI essay: https://archive.ph/9E4Sr
michiyl
He could have just said nothing. Maybe he hoped that legislature would be faster, that AI would not advance this quickly. Humans haven't changed much in the last thousands of years, but technological advances are coming much much quicker than our brain developments.
MagicBeets
I don't think America for sure and probably the rest of the world right now specialize in any sort of meaningful legislation
DoctorWookie
Ok, but AI in Healthcare is/was a good thing. It helps find novel new treatments via research. Front line is bad, but the research portion is a great thing. I'm not gonna fault the man for helping advance medical research. He has always been a terrible human being, but that thing he did funding AI scientific research is a good thing. The assholes running openAI to push real people out of jobs are the true villains.
TheMurderousCricket
#6 - A K-pax cat?
spittinfacts
Your produce alone was worth the trip.
AyatollahBahloni
A wild K-Pax reference appears!
HungryAngryManBaby
Incredible.
So much about AI and yet not a BREATH wasted on the massive economic bubble the datacenter build-out has created. Everything that he says here is contingent on the AI industries continued existence.
Good points, noble ideas. Presumably all executed by companies that survive the incoming economic calamity that they have created. Any law conceived today will have to be rewritten for the actual reality that follows the crash.
RuBisCO1
Yeah because after the dot-com bubble burst that was the end of the internet.
HungryAngryManBaby
Very different. The early internet was foundationally sound but overran with nonsensical businesses and moonshot ideas that got invested in without a moments thought. In contrast, the fundamental economic structure of what we consider the "AI industry" is an unsustainable mess.
I think AI will stick around. I think AI will change the world. The technological underpinnings are real and valuable. But the industry that today’s conmen have decided to call "AI" is going to crash and burn.
RuBisCO1
I don't see what is incompetent between what you said and I said. I don't see anything fundamentally unsound with a slave that has no desire, free will or even a body, that can br mass produced. Its just a continuation of automation, but like the internet and trains in 1850's its bring way way overinvested on the beleif these slaves come into being any day now and will obedient and effective as dreamed without there being decades more of development.
HungryAngryManBaby
Cool sentence bro. Really difficult to read. (Also "incompetent" is not the word you were looking for)
The scale the difference. Nothing comes close to the level of overspend and market calcification we see today.
I disagree with your original statement because it is so dismissive: Because the technology will be a revolution, any carnage on the way there is fine . No matter the cost to others. I think writing about AI without mentioning its garbage economics (like Bill) is simply irresponsible
RuBisCO1
Well sorry for being human, that said I honestly think we may need another great depression so the masses can elected the kind of politicians that will put in the social safety systems we will need for when AGI is actually economically viable.
Pulsifer
No, but even if you bought the stock of one of the "winners" (read: survivors) like Amazon, you had to wait until 2008 just to get back up to the value you paid for it.
Spoonland
That man is telling some truths, not all of them cause he's definitely a part of the issue, but he should be listened to. I'm an it on a huge company and I have no doubt that the owners will start replacing workers with machines as soon as it will be somehow convenient. First 3 robots will start in 6 months as a test but CEOs are already enthusiast about the possibilities
rubypilgrim
Some companies that laid off thousands of employees are now beginning to hire them back: humans are cheaper than AI https://www.techbrew.com/stories/2026/05/01/ai-makes-human-labor-look-cheap-again
Spoonland
won't say it is not a possibility but mi true answer is 'so far'. B Gates, no matter what is the opinion one might have of him, is one of the smartest man on the planet and maybe one of the few that might have a lucid vision of the phenomenon so I read it all and honestly what he wrote willl made me ponder about the matter for a while.