In an interview with The Australian Financial Review, technology pioneer and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates discussed the potential benefits and consequences of the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) programs such as GPT-3.5, the language system that ChatGPT is based on. Gates stated that he had been experimenting with generative AI programs over the past year and sees huge potential benefits for health and education, but also warned of job losses in white-collar fields as a result of greater sophistication in AI.
Microsoft is already an investor in OpenAI, the company behind GPT-3.5, as well as Dall-E, which generates images from text prompts, and is in discussions to invest as much as $10 billion. It has been suggested that generative AI could disrupt the internet search market, currently dominated by Google, as co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have reportedly been called back from semi-retirement to hold emergency meetings about incorporating chatbots in their search pages.
Gates acknowledged that AI advancements have long been associated with societal concerns about job loss, and stated that knowledge-based, white-collar jobs will likely be impacted as AI becomes more sophisticated. He also acknowledged that AI is not yet having a significant effect on the job market, but stated that this will change as AI makes certain tasks less expensive. However, he also highlighted the benefits of AI in industries such as the medical profession, where it can assist in tasks such as writing prescriptions and understanding medical bills.
Overall, Bill Gates sees the potential of AI in improving efficiency and productivity in various fields, but also warns of job displacement. These statements align with the general consensus in the technology industry that AI can bring both opportunities and challenges to the job market (Source: The Australian Financial Review)