Warren Buffett Shares ‘Number One Problem with Mankind’

Warren Buffett shared his thoughts at the Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders' meeting on Saturday when he shared that he sees cyber attacks as a bigger threat to humanity than nuclear weapons. The annual meeting was livestreamed by Yahoo for only the second time in history.

“I don't know that much about cyber, but I do think that's the number one problem with mankind,” said Buffett at the meeting.

While this is not a new belief it does validate cybersecurity as an area that there might be opportunity.

“I'm very pessimistic on weapons of mass destruction generally although I don't think that nuclear probably is quite as likely as either primarily biological and maybe cyber,” he said.

Of course, whether we see a cyber, biological, or nuclear attack we'll all have more to worry about than the price of Berkshire Hathaway stock but it's good to know what keeps Buffett up at night.

Buffett also talked about artificial intelligence. He believes that artificial intelligence will kill some jobs, but in general it will help improve society. He said:

“I would certainly think they [artificial intelligence] would result in significantly less employment in certain areas, but that’s good for society,” Warren Buffett said. “It may not be good for a given business.”

We tend to agree with Mr. Buffett and we're not alone. The World Economic Forum predicted that artificial intelligence could displace 5 million workers by 2020. That said, the benefits to society could outweigh the expense of these jobs, as new jobs are created as a result of the artificial intelligence economy rising.

Did you find this article helpful? Click on one of the following buttons
We're so happy you liked! Get more delivered to your inbox just like it.

We're sorry this article didn't help you today – we welcome feedback, so if there's any way you feel we could improve our content, please email us at contact@tech.co

Written by:
Frank Gruber is the cofounder, CEO and Executive Editor of Tech.Co (formerly Tech Cocktail). He is the author of the book, Startup Mixology, Tech Cocktail’s Guide to Building, Growing, and Celebrating Startup Success. He is also a startup advisor and investor to startups. Find Frank Gruber online and follow him on Twitter at @FrankGruber.
Explore More See all news
Back to top
close Thinking about your online privacy? NordVPN is Tech.co's top-rated VPN service See Deals