“I had an experience that disturbed me a little. Recently, I saw an image before my eyes on the screen. It was me and my voice, the kind of clothes I wear, and my wife or daughter. Any difference And I was sending a message that there was no way it came from my side”, he said.
Buffett acknowledged that AI has the potential for both immense benefits and harms, and only time will tell to what extent it will change society.
“I don't know anything about AI, but I don't deny its existence or importance or anything like that. Last year I said that when we developed nuclear weapons we let the genie out of the bottle. And that genie has been doing some terrible things lately, and you know the power of that genie scares me a lot. And underneath that, I don't know of any way to get the genie back in the bottle, and the AI is kind of the same. It's out, it's partially out of the bottle, and it's extremely important, and it will be done by somebody. So, we probably wish we had never seen that genie, or he could do amazing things, and I'm certainly not the person to judge that.
Asked which of Berkshire's businesses are likely to be impacted by AI, he said, “In terms of our businesses, they will figure things out. We have smart people and obviously if it is used socially it will be of tremendous benefit to the society. But I don't know how you make sure that that's the case, but I do know how to make sure that when you use two atomic bombs in World War II you know that you did something like that. You haven't created anything that you can later destroy the world with.”
Meanwhile, Warren Buffett assured shareholders that the executives expected to succeed him at Berkshire Hathaway are up to the task and praised Apple, although Berkshire recently reduced its position in the iPhone maker. .
Speaking at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting, the veteran investor also paid tribute to his late partner Charlie Munger and said he expected the group's cash pile, which reached a record $189 billion last quarter, will continue to grow.