Mark Benioff: "We don't want to see a Hiroshima from artificial intelligence"

The tech industry is developing security protocols for AI-based software to avoid a "Hiroshima moment," Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said at a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"This is a huge moment for artificial intelligence. AI has made a huge leap forward in the last year or two," he said, acknowledging that amid the rapid pace of progress, the technology "could go completely wrong."

Concerns are growing about the reliability and use of AI, with critics around the world questioning whether artificial intelligence will replace human workers.

Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund released a report warning that the development of artificial intelligence could affect nearly 40% of jobs worldwide.

"We don't want anything to go wrong. That's why we're coming to this security summit. That's why we're talking about trust," Benioff said on Thursday.

"We don't want a repeat of Hiroshima. We've seen technology go wrong, and we've seen Hiroshima. We don't want to see Hiroshima with artificial intelligence. We want to make sure that we are already in control."

Benioff's company Salesforce has its own experience in this area after launching generative AI software Einstein GPT. The company has joined the global race among developers trying to integrate generative AI capabilities into their existing products.

Background. As a reminder, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in Davos that the future development of artificial intelligence requires an energy breakthrough that will provide humanity with much more energy than people have received so far.