Selected from the network by Eng. Anelia Dimova, Information Society Policy Expert

We are witnessing an epochal shift. The turbulent AI era is here. The choices we make now are critical.

We need a plan to ensure that the good outweighs the bad.

The transition to AI comes with three big risks.

Many jobs will disappear forever.

AI will empower people (and perhaps AIs) to do more harm.

AI could stunt our kids’ development and replace human relationships.

After Pope Leo XIV, Bill Gates has written his own encyclical on AI.

He is asking an equally fundamental question about artificial intelligence:

How do we make sure AI makes humanity better off — rather than simply making technology more powerful?

That question can no longer be left to technologists, Big Tech companies or governments acting in isolation.

AI can become an extraordinary force for progress: better healthcare, better education, more productive companies, more effective public services and entirely new forms of innovation. But it can also accelerate inequality, destroy jobs faster than we can replace them, concentrate economic power and undermine some of the human relationships and institutions on which our societies depend.

So the time for observation is over. We need action.

Europe has a unique role to play.

Europe has rightly taken the lead in regulating technology. But regulation without innovation will merely make us the referee of a game played by others.

Our next ambition must therefore be bigger:

Europe should combine regulation with innovation and build an AI economy based on European values, European entrepreneurship and European technological capabilities.

Not AI versus humanity.

Not regulation versus innovation.

But technology, entrepreneurship and governance working together to create economic and societal value.

The choices we make now will determine whether AI becomes primarily an engine of concentration or an engine of shared prosperity.

Europe should not watch that future being built elsewhere.

We should help build it.

Bill Gates’ message to leaders is:

“You have a chance to act now, before unemployment rises sharply, communities are hurting, and public trust has eroded. You can make sure that your government handles the problem holistically, rather than divvying it up into multiple bureaucratic fiefdoms. You can make sure AI benefits everyone. And you can work with other governments to meet this national and global challenge.

Finally, I will try to widen the circle of people shaping this debate. It should include workers, college students who are about to enter the workforce, community leaders, religious leaders and faith-based organizations, parents, educators, and others whose voices often aren’t heard but who have insight into how the transition will affect people’s lives.”

How do we ensure that the benefits of AI reach people who do not already have wealth, influence, and access?

How do we strengthen the social safety net and help workers and communities thrive even when they’re displaced?

How should public institutions adapt?

And how do we preserve our humanity through all of this?

“This unprecedented technology demands an unprecedented global response.

If we get it right, the payoff for humanity will be phenomenal and the world will be a more equitable place.

I rarely stop thinking about AI – not because I have all the answers, but because the questions it raises are too consequential to leave to a small group of technologists. Leaders across academia, business, government, and civil society all have a role to play in shaping what comes next.”

Source https://www.gatesnotes.com/home/home-page-topic/reader/bad-news-is-not-the-only-news