Microsoft founder Bill Gates is famously optimistic about artificial intelligence and promises to accelerate innovation. He considers AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot to be one of two truly revolutionary technologies (another example is graphical user interfaces, or digital icons and buttons, in computing).
Now Gates says that “the age of AI has begun” and that it will not only increase productivity but also help solve social problems such as inequality. He thinks the technology can free up resources and increase access to health care and education in low-income countries if governments and philanthropies introduce the right policies and direct funds where they are most needed.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about how AI can reduce some of the world’s worst inequalities,” Gates wrote in a blog post Tuesday. “For one, they will help healthcare workers use their time by doing certain tasks for them – like filing insurance claims, taking care of paperwork, and making notes from doctor visits.”
Gates pointed out that some developing countries struggle to attract enough doctors, which often exacerbates the disparity between the rich and the less fortunate. If every healthcare professional had access to AI tools to better advise patients on the best course of action, more people in need could be served, he said. Meanwhile, in education, AI can help train students and help them achieve higher test scores.
Institutionalizing such a system will require years of testing and sustained efforts by governments, philanthropies, and businesses to make AI part of the solution rather than adding to the problem, Gates said. That way, the benefits will be accessible to everyone and not just those who can use the technology.
“Government and philanthropy must play a leading role in ensuring that inequality is reduced and not contributed to. This is a priority for my own work related to AI,” Gates wrote.
AI’s potential to solve problems that affect entire countries and communities comes with its own threats, and Gates admits the technology is still limited.
“People need to see evidence that health AI is useful overall, even if it’s not perfect and will make mistakes,” Gates wrote. “AI needs to be carefully tested and properly regulated, which means it will take longer to be adopted than in other areas.”
AI can sometimes fumble or hallucinate by producing inaccurate or fictitious information and becomes a threat in the hands of the wrong person who misuses it, he said. Then, of course, there’s the possibility of AI walking around and becoming a threat to humans.
Despite these risks, Gates still thinks that AI technology has great potential.
“All industries will reorient. Businesses will differentiate themselves by how they use it,” he wrote.
Billionaire philanthropists have long supported AI and argued that the benefits outweigh the dangers. For one, he doesn’t see AI as a threat to jobs. If anything, it could improve the way people work by increasing efficiency, he said.
As the man who helped start the computer revolution half a century ago, which also sparked similar concerns about killing jobs, he said the development of AI “is every bit as important as the PC, as the internet.” Earlier this year, during a Reddit Ask Me Anything session, he referred to AI as a tool that “gives us a glimpse of what’s to come.”
It is normal for people to raise concerns about any revolutionary technology, Gates said, but added that AI is just one example and that can be used to accomplish real changes.