Bill Gates predicts that artificial intelligence will be transformative for all of us within the next five years.
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked fears that the technology will eliminate millions of jobs worldwide. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported this week that around 40% of jobs worldwide could be affected by AI.
Gates doesn't necessarily disagree with this notion, but he believes history shows that with every new technology comes fear and then new opportunity.
"Like what happened with agricultural productivity in 1900, when people said 'Hey, what are people going to do?' In fact, a lot of new things were created, a lot of new job categories were created, and we're much better off than when everybody was doing farm work," Gates said.
In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Gates predicted that AI will make people's lives easier. Since it doesn't need "a lot of new hardware," Gates said the AI ??will be accessed through "a phone or a computer."
He also added that the improvements to OpenAI's ChatGPT-4 were "dramatic" because it "can basically read and write," so "it's almost like having an employee to be a teacher, to give health advice, to help in writing codes etc."
He said incorporating this technology into the education or medical sectors would be "fantastic".
Microsoft has a multi-billion dollar partnership with OpenAI. Gates remains one of Microsoft's largest shareholders.
The IMF takes a much less optimistic view. According to the IMF, AI will deepen inequality unless action is taken.
