Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has expressed his reservations about the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI). While acknowledging the potential benefits of AI, Wozniak highlighted his concerns about its potential for misuse, particularly in the hands of malicious actors.

“I trust the I, but not the A,” Wozniak said, emphasising his skepticism towards the "artificial" aspect of AI, at the ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.

He expressed his dislike for spammers and scammers who seek to exploit technology for personal gain, and warned that AI could become a powerful tool for deception and manipulation.

“I hate spammers. I hate the people trying to get the passwords and take all your money. I hate all this, and now they have one more tool. They have AI so they can do a better job, and AI can trick you into things. And that's the method I'm not for,” he added.

The Apple co-founder also criticised Musk's leadership style, arguing that political leadership fundamentally differs from managing technology companies.

“It does make sense to run a government like a business, but I don't see that happening in Elon's case,” Wozniak said.

The Apple co-founder emphasised the importance of consensus and compromise in organisational management.

“If half of your employees feel one way and half the other way, you negotiate, you compromise. You don't just say 'everything is out' and start fresh,” Wozniak explained.

On tech giants, Wozniak said that the Big Tech ‘owns’ our lives.

“All the Big mid tech companies are just so big. It's like they own our lives. It used to be..when I came up with, we started Apple, we had a computer, you bought a computer. You ran some software on it, and you set up and ran your company or whatever with all this stuff. And it always worked. And it was your own. Nowadays, you have to subscribe, subscribe, subscribe to everything, and then once you subscribe, you don't own it,” he added.