In a recent series of interviews, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates made a bold prediction that AI will make humans essentially obsolete in the workplace in the next 10 years.
Gates believes that as AI develops rapidly, it will take over “most of the things” people do now, including key roles in medicine and education.
“In the next decade, with AI in the next decade, it will become free, common, good coaching,” Gates said on NBC’s “Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon.”
Although he acknowledges that human expertise in areas such as healthcare and teaching is still “rare” today, Gates envisions a near future where AI will democratize it to acquire top-notch knowledge and skills.
Gates also elaborated on this vision of “free intelligence” in a conversation last month with Harvard professor and happiness expert Arthur Brooks.
He describes an era where AI penetrates everyday life and transforms health care, education, and later on. “It’s very profound, even a little horrible – because it happens very quickly and there’s no ceiling,” Gates said.
Billionaire comments have rekindled the ups and downs debate about the impact of AI on the workforce.
Some experts believe that artificial intelligence will mainly enhance human labor, improve efficiency and economic growth. Openai CEO Sam Altman also said AI will be Like the calculators education.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang Also announced, “While there are concerns that AI might do their jobs, people with AI experts.”
But others, such as Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, warned of interruptions.
In his 2023 book The Wave of Coming, Suleiman wrote that AI tools “will only temporarily enhance human intelligence” and then eventually replace many jobs.
“They will make us smarter, more efficient at one point and release a lot of economic growth, but fundamentally, they are alternatives to the labor force,” he said.
Despite the incredible drawbacks of AI, Gates is confident in the social interests of AI, from medical breakthroughs to climate solutions to universal access to quality education.
He also said that if he started a new business today, it would be “AI-centric.”
“Today, someone can raise billions of dollars for a new AI company [that’s just] This is true given that many generated AI startups have reached their unicorn status without public products.
As for the irreplaceable efforts of humans in a robot-based future, Gates provided some predictions for Fallon. “We will keep something for ourselves,” he said. Humans, for example, still want to watch others participate in sports.
“But, in making things, moving things and growing food, these will basically solve the problem over time.”
Gates’ vision for a world where human expertise is largely outdated in a decade seems shocking, even dystopian, to some.
But for many in the technology industry, this is just the inevitable end of the revolution for decades.
