Bill Gates is Bullish on AI: “The Age of AI has Begun”

Bill Gates is bullish on AI. In an op-ed on his blog, he talked about AI’s benefits, risks and potential.

He saw two technologies that were “revolutionary”:

• The first was in 1980 with graphical user interfaces, leading to modern operating systems (i.e., Windows, MacOS).
• The second with OpenAI — seeing AI as important as the PC, internet and mobile phone.

1/ AI will ramp up productivity. Using AI will be like having a white-collar worker or a personal agent assisting you — while Microsoft describes it as having a co-pilot.

2/ AI could help reduce inequality — notably in global health and education, which have great demand but lack workers. However, instead of the market producing AI products that help the poorest — “the opposite is more likely.”

But AI is scary. Here’s what Gates has to say:

Yes, AI can be used for good and bad — and it could also run out of control. “Could a machine decide that humans are a threat?… Possibly.”

He says the downsides need to be balanced with its “ability to improve people’s lives” — with government and private sector cooperation to limit the risks.