Bill Gates is convinced: AI will revolutionize everything, and much faster than we think. On the set of Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show, the Microsoft co-founder dropped a bombshell: "We won't need humans for most things anymore." Just that! Today, he says, certain skills remain rare, like a good doctor or a good teacher. But what about tomorrow? Artificial intelligence will take care of it, and for free.
Many promises, and limits
For him, we are entering the era of "free intelligence." Translation: tools capable of giving reliable medical advice, providing high-level academic support, or even managing a whole host of complex tasks. And all this, at our fingertips, without hourly billing. "It's both very profound and a little scary, because it goes very quickly," he confided. during a conversation with researcher Arthur Brooks.
But not everyone shares his optimism. Mustafa Suleyman, the head of Microsoft AI, believes that these technologies will primarily disrupt the world of work. In his book The Coming Wave, he explains that AI will not help us forever: "These tools will make us more efficient for a while, but they will fundamentally replace human labor."
Despite everything, Bill Gates remains confident. According to him, this new generation of tools will be able to advance medicine, improve education, and even help fight climate change. Some activities will remain human, he assures - He's not sure robots are ready to play a soccer match, for example.
He also acknowledges that not everything is perfect. Current AIs still make quite a few mistakes, and they can easily spread fake news. It's a real issue, which he considers "legitimate." But overall, Bill Gates sees it above all as an opportunity to innovate. Speaking to CNBC, he confided that he would definitely launch an AI startup if he had to start from scratch. "Today, someone can raise billions with just a few scribbled ideas," he sums up. Which is perhaps part of the problem as well...
The former Microsoft CEO is still new to the subject. In 2017, he had already spotted the potential of AI, impressed by DeepMind's computer that beat the pros at Go. And even he was surprised by the speed of evolution: he thought ChatGPT would take years to pass an advanced biology exam. It took... a few months.
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