Kristen Welker asked Bill Gates last weekend on “Meet the Press” whether artificial intelligence could lead to the end of humanity. Mr. Gates replied that if weaponized, AI is powerful enough to “drive events that cause a billion deaths.” “It’s pretty hard to get to 100%,” he said, almost comfortingly. Relying on AI companies to police themselves is insufficient: “No one thinks self-regulation is enough.” A failure to mandate safeguards is “completely irresponsible.” “We have created an intelligent species that in many respects is already smarter than we are.” In the next few years it will be “insanely smarter than we are.” READ MORE