Array
Billionaire Warren Buffett said artificial intelligence may change the world in all sorts of ways, but new technology won’t take away opportunities for investors, and he’s confident America will continue to prosper over time.
Buffett and his partner Charlie Munger are spending all day Saturday answering questions at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting inside a packed Omaha arena.
“New things coming along doesn’t take away the opportunities. What gives you the opportunities is other people doing dumb things,” said Buffett, who had a chance to try out ChatGPT when his friend Bill Gates showed it to him a few months back.
Munger cautioned that artificial intelligence won’t replace everything.
“I personally am skeptical of some of the hype about AI. I think old-fashioned intelligence works pretty well,” Munger said.
Buffett reiterated his long-term optimism about the prospects for America even with the bitter political divisions today. The country is in much better shape than it was in when he was born in 1930 — even if it needs to continue refining itself and its democracy, and it remains capable of extraordinary things, he said.
“The problem now is that partisanship has moved more towards tribalism and in tribalism you don’t even hear the other side,” he said.
Buffett said bank failures like the ones this year could have been catastrophic for the economy, but regulators at the FDIC and the government won’t allow that to happen — just like they won’t allow the current debt limit debate to cause a crisis.
The chance to listen to the two men answer all sorts of questions about business and life attracts people from all over the world to Omaha, Nebraska. Some of the shareholders feel a particular urgency to attend now because Buffett and Munger are both in their 90s.
“Charlie Munger is 99. I just wanted to see him in person. It’s on my bucket list,” said 40-year-old Sheraton Wu from Vancouver. “I have to attend while I can.”
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Chloe Lin, who traveled from Singapore to attend the meeting for the first time and learn from the two legendary investors.
One of the few concessions Buffett makes to his age is that he no longer tours the exhibit hall before the meeting. In years past, he would be mobbed by shareholders trying to snap a picture with him while a team of security officers worked to manage the crowd.
