DAVOS, Switzerland — Artificial intelligence, and how to regulate it, was overheard in more circles than ever before at this year’s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, known to host hundreds of discussions and speeches on wide-ranging topics, from diplomacy to environment to the latest technologies. 

“We have to take the unintended consequences of any new technology along with all the benefits, and think about them simultaneously as opposed to waiting for the unintended consequences to show up and then address them,” Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said during his appearance this week at the Davos meeting, which ended Friday. “Being proactive about managing risk is the right thing to do.”