Bill Gates has an unpleasant prediction about the progress of artificial intelligence (AI). According to him, increasingly sophisticated AI can displace office workers, just like robots that threaten factory workers.
The topic of AI sophistication has long been associated with concerns that this technology could threaten job seekers. Gates also did not hesitate to say that office workers who need special skills could be replaced by AI.
Moreover, not long ago giant technology companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Meta made massive layoffs. But Gates said this layoff does not mean human tasks will be replaced by AI.
"AI hasn't had an effect on the job market yet, but it will have an effect because it's always a question of what would happen if you built something cheaper," Gates said, as quoted by the Australian Financial Review, Monday (30/1/2023).
Gates added that he has seen the potential benefits of generative AI such as ChatGPT in the healthcare profession and other industries that require a lot of information to understand.
The 67-year-old man exemplifies how AI can help doctors write prescriptions and explain medical bills to patients, or help lawyers write and understand legal documents.
"When you make doctors' jobs more efficient (with AI) it doesn't mean you need fewer doctors, but there are some areas that change, for example when the radial tire was created, people were driving less, so we have fewer tire factories, said Gates.
"Over time, the workforce will go and do other work, but now there will be more anxiety about the fact that AI is targeting white-collar workers."
Gates said he had tried generative AI such as ChatGPT and saw its potential to compete with search engines like Google. Microsoft is also an investor in OpenAI, the artificial intelligence startup behind ChatGPT and DALL-E.
"The way it helps you view and summarize documents is great, and if you compare what a dialogue with Ai will look like in the next two or three years about something like planning a trip, with the experience that's currently in search engines, it's much better," he concluded.