In 7-Page Note, Bill Gates Calls AI ”As Revolutionary As Phones And Internet”

Needless to say, Artificial intelligence (AI) is shaping the future of humanity across nearly every industry and changing the world around us. Sharing his thoughts on the future of AI, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates shared a blog post on Tuesday, calling the ”development of AI as the most important technological advance in decades.”

In a seven-page note, titled “The Age of AI has Begun,” Mr Gates wrote, ”The development of AI is as fundamental as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the Internet, and the mobile phone. It will change the way people work, learn, travel, get health care, and communicate with each other. Entire industries will reorient around it. Businesses will distinguish themselves by how well they use it.”

He spoke about two significant technological advancements in his life that he believes are revolutionary.

• The first was the graphical user interface in 1980, which became the foundation of modern operating systems. 
• The second was in 2022 when he challenged OpenAI to train an AI to pass an Advanced Placement biology exam, which they achieved in a few months. He hailed the invention of ChatGPT and said he was inspired to think about what AI could do in the next 10 years.

Mr Gates also discussed how the world can seek benefits from AI, well as the challenges it poses for us.  He wrote, ”I’ve been thinking a lot about how—in addition to helping people be more productive—AI can reduce some of the world’s worst inequities.”  He focused on three sectors AI could transform– the workforce, healthcare, and education.

”As computing power gets cheaper, GPT’s ability to express ideas will increasingly be like having a white-collar worker available to help you with various tasks,” he wrote while talking about the role of AI in enhancing employee productivity. 

In the healthcare industry, Mr Gates wrote ”AI could free up healthcare workers from certain tasks, such as filing insurance claims, completing paperwork, and drafting doctor’s visit notes.”

“AI-driven improvements will be especially important for poor countries, where the vast majority of under-5 deaths happen. Many people in those countries never get to see a doctor, and AIs will help the health workers they do see be more productive,” the note reads.

Mr Gates predicted AI could transform education in the next five to 10 years by delivering content tailored to students’ learning styles, and also learning what motivates individual students and causes them to lose interest in subjects. 

”There are many ways that AIs can assist teachers and administrators, including assessing a student’s understanding of a subject and giving advice on career planning. Teachers are already using tools like ChatGPT to provide comments on their students’ writing assignments,” he wrote.