Bill Gates predicts AI will kill a billion people – but saying he’s been wrong before is quite the understatement | Arwa Mahdawi

The Bill Gates rehabilitation tour is in full swing. After having his carefully cultivated image tarnished by the revelation of his connection to Jeffrey Epstein, Gates lay low for a while. Now, however, the Microsoft co-founder is once again thrusting himself into the public consciousness, this time with a dire warning about AI. If left unchecked, AI could cause “a billion deaths”, Gates declared in an interview with NBC on Sunday.

Perhaps I should be terrified by this announcement from a man who, for all his sins, knows a thing or two about technology. But I’m sick of hearing about the hypothetical dangers of AI when the technology is being used to kill people today. Gates may not be directly involved in Microsoft any more, but, rather than making prophecies about the future, I’d love to hear what he thinks about the company’s role in the AI-enabled destruction of Gaza.

Another thing I’d like to hear Gates explain is why he reckons anyone should trust his judgment about anything, considering he met with Epstein on several occasions after being introduced to him in 2011. To be clear: that’s three years after the financier pleaded guilty to charges including solicitation of prostitution from a minor. Gates, who has not been accused of involvement in Epstein’s crimes, has said he recalled “being aware that Epstein had faced prior legal issues”, but didn’t understand the extent of them. Two minutes of Googling (or Binging) could have made it clear the man was bad news.

The oversight is particularly strange because Gates is obsessed with his public image. His team have a custom-size mannequin on which they test his outfits. The goal, per the Wall Street Journal, is “to depict someone calm and approachable, like Mister Rogers”. Not someone who cavorts with a sex offender.

Ignorance isn’t Gates’ only excuse. He has also said that Epstein “knew a lot of very rich people and [claimed he] could get them to give money to global health”. It seems the 17th richest man in the world didn’t know any wealthy people he could hit up for donations himself and, for the sake of the world’s health, had to lean on a dodgy financier whose funds were obtained in mysterious ways.

I’m not accusing Gates of anything nefarious. But, if we are to take his Epstein excuses at face value, I’m accusing him of being a fool. If we can’t trust his judgment about a man like Epstein, I’m not sure we should trust his proclamations about the future of humanity.