Apocalypse? 'Oracle of Omaha' Warren Buffett compares AI with atom bomb creation

AI is the biggest buzzword these days, but iconic investor and billionaire Warren Buffett has a not very charitable view of it.

The 'Oracle of Omaha' Warren Buffett believes AI will change everything in the world, "except how men think and behave." (AP)

Artificial intelligence has been a theoretical concept for a long time for people until the rise in popularity of AI tools such as OpenAI's ChatGPT. Since the beginning of this year, AI has been a hot topic with analysts and influential business figures weighing in on the same. With the emergence of ChatGPT, Dall-E, Bard, and many more such tools, AI has come into applicability for most people in day-to-day life. However, there is growing apprehensions about AI chatbots' potential misuse and also that it will lead to the loss of millions of jobs. 

Many tech entrepreneurs like Tesla chief Elon Musk and AI experts like 'Godfather of AI' Geoffrey Hinton have raised concerns about AI, and now billionaire investor Warren Buffett has voiced his worries about the surge of artificial intelligence, comparing it to the creation of the atom bomb, New York Post reported.

At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway in Omaha, Nebraska, Buffett and his colleague Charlie Munger engaged in a comprehensive conversation that touched upon their perspectives on technology and AI. Recently, he had a chance to try the popular AI chatbot, ChatGPT with his friend Bill Gates, one of the co-founders of Microsoft. Despite acknowledging the vast capabilities of AI, such as the ability to analyze all legal opinions, Buffett still showed concerns about the swift progress of AI programs.

"When something can do all kinds of things, I get a little bit worried. Because I know we won't be able to un-invent it and, you know, we did invent, for very, very good reason, the atom bomb in World War II," New York Post quoted Buffett as saying. His belief is that AI will transform virtually every aspect of the world, except for the way in which people actually think and act.

Meanwhile, his partner Charlie Munger also shared his views about AI. He was sceptical towards some of the exaggerated claims surrounding artificial intelligence and believes that traditional intelligence still holds a lot of value.

Not just Buffett and Munger, Hinton recently voiced his fears that AI might present a "more urgent" danger to humanity than even climate change.