“We let the genie out of the bottle when we developed nuclear weapons. Artificial intelligence is somewhat similar – it’s partially out of the bottle.” —Warren Buffett
The world is rapidly changing at an unprecedented pace since AI was deployed in the mainstream as AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini gained popularity. Artificial intelligence has greatly facilitated many everyday activities, both for the general public and for technical professionals. However, the meteoric rise of artificial intelligence often raises the question – how safe is artificial intelligence?
Quote of the day from Warren Buffett
In today’s quote of the day, ace investor Warren Buffett’s stance on AI is worth noting.
“We let the genie out of the bottle when we developed nuclear weapons. Artificial intelligence is somewhat similar – it’s partially out of the bottle.”
What does the quote mean?
Warren Buffett said this during Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting in 2024 when he issued a stark threat about the potential dangers of AI technology, which was still not as developed as it is today.
In the first part of the quote, Buffett talks about a ‘genie’, which is a magical creature that lives inside a bottle and grants wishes. He compares the “genie” to a nuclear weapon that has historically been used in war and the threat of which is still used by states when talking about potential wars. Keeping a nuclear weapon in the loop when we talk about a conflict can potentially give one country an advantage over the other and thus get their wish.
In the second part of the quote, he says that AI is somewhat similar to the threat of nuclear weapons. He compared artificial intelligence to nuclear weapons in the sense that it can do whatever a human asks it to do. Buffett was referring to the deeply fake videos of himself that were circulating at the time, created by AI.
Warren Buffett’s quote of the day basically talks about the potential risks of using AI and how it can threaten society. He predicted that deepfakes and scams using AI are likely to be prevalent.
Why does it matter now?
Warren Buffet’s view on artificial intelligence can be interpreted in many ways. Not just deepfakes, AI has disrupted the very core of humanity and the way it works.
Artificial intelligence can be used for a myriad of things today. And its biggest impact has been layoffs at technology companies. Software companies also recently took a huge hit after AI startup Anthropic implemented new updates to its AI tool Claude Code, creating jitters among investors.
We let the genie out of the bottle when we developed nuclear weapons. AI is somewhat similar – it’s partially out of the bottle.
In the latest news, Jack Dorsey-led Block has announced the layoff of 40% of its staff. That’s more than 4,000 people. What’s different about this round of layoffs is that it was fired entirely because of the company’s decision to use more AI in its operations, which it said made the roles redundant, and so it wanted to move forward with a leaner team.
But the impact of artificial intelligence is not only felt in work situations. A few weeks ago, Anthropic updated its AI agent code Claude, allowing it to effectively eliminate the need for traditional software companies. Tech stocks took a bloodbath around the world, buoyed by the news.
