Description
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in his latest blog discussed a variety of topics around artificial intelligence (AI), including how the world can pursue its benefits and the challenges it faces. In his blog, published in "Gates Notes" on Tuesday, the philanthropist claimed that AI is as revolutionary as cell phones and the Internet. Gates hailed the invention of ChatGPT, the buzz of the town these days, as the second demonstration of revolutionary technology he had after being introduced to the graphical user interface in the 1980s. As surprised as he was after his first encounter with the GPT model, Gates said he was inspired to think about what AI could do in the next 10 years. The American business magnate believed that AI could reduce some of the world's worst inequalities, the worst that he knows of being health inequality. Citing the example of the United States, he said that education was the best opportunity to reduce inequality, but that it needed to improve. He supported black, Latino, and low-income students, who are relatively more disadvantaged, and said that with AI, the current downward trend seen in the education sector could be reversed.
The 67-year-old philanthropist also suggested using AI to fight climate injustice. Gates argued that the world's poorest and those who have contributed the least to the problem of climate change are the most affected. Although he was confident in the results that AI would produce in reversing trends of climate injustice with the help of AI, Gates said its potential should be explored.
Gates, in his blog below, suggested ways AI will help empower people at work, save lives and improve education.
He argued that humans are still better than GPT in many areas, but in many places their abilities go unused. He said tools like GPT's ability to express ideas, creating personal agents like a digital assistant are some of the ways AI can improve work efficiency. He said a personal agent might not yet be feasible, but he was realistic with certain limitations that needed to be defined, including the level of personal details that would need to be shared with him.
Gates believed that the involvement of AI as an assistant in industries would benefit society by giving people more free time to take care of other things.
He also said that AI can help healthcare workers be more productive. The use of AI models in poor countries will need to be trained on different diseases than in rich countries. They will have to work in different languages and take different challenges into account,” Gates said. He also spoke about the challenges that AI will face, stating that it will need to be tested very carefully and regulated appropriately.
Gates also said that AI can be a breakthrough in data processing. "The amount of data in biology is very large and it is difficult for humans to track all the ways it works...the next generation of tools will be able to predict side effects and determine dosage levels," he stated.
From an educational standpoint, Gates said, "AI-based software will finally deliver on the promise of revolutionizing the way people teach and learn." Gates said the focus should be on making these tools available to low-income countries and less disadvantaged segments of the population.
Gates, towards the end of his blog, talked about the risks of AI and its limitations. “..Artificial intelligence can be used for good or bad. Governments must work with the private sector to find ways to limit risks. He also talked about the risks that could arise if AI becomes too powerful. "Could a machine decide that humans are a threat..." but argued that "it will be able to do anything a human brain can do, but with no practical limit to the size of its memory or the speed at which it operates." It will be a profound change.
