Bill Gates: AI assistant will bring disruptive changes

Well-known tech tycoon Bill Gates was spotted in San Francisco on Monday, local time. Although the media unearthed Gates' past affairs last weekend, and the news of blackmail as a result, the former world's richest man is still focused on AI.

After Nvidia founder Jen-Hsun Huang proposed the concept of "embodied intelligence" last week, Gates also proposed a similar idea on Monday. He believes that the future head of the artificial intelligence industry, the probability will be related to the development of personal digital assistants.

The Microsoft founder said that the technology could revolutionize people's habits. The importance of this matter is. Gates said, "People will never go back to using search engines, never go to productivity sites, and never go back to using Amazon." In Gates' vision, the "AI assistant" will have the ability to understand human needs and habits, and will help humans "read books they don't have time to read."

What's more, no one can predict with certainty where such an "AI winner" will come from. Gates said he thinks the odds of startups and tech giants being the future winners of the AI track are about "50 to 50. I'll be disappointed if Microsoft doesn't end up there, but I'm also impressed with the performance of some of the startups right now," Gates said.

Although the AI track is changing rapidly, Gates also believes that his ideal "digital assistant" is still some time away from being ready to become mainstream. Until then, companies will still be keen to apply generative AI like ChatGPT to their products.

Gates, who has been "all about AI" in recent days, also mentioned his work at the Bill and Melinda Foundation on Monday, saying that AI will accelerate technological innovation in space exploration and drive more advanced drug development. While the mechanisms inside the human brain are still very much a mystery, Gates believes humans are close to creating an effective Alzheimer's treatment.

Gates also called generative AI a "game changer for white-collar workers," and he also believes that blue-collar workers will be greatly impacted by the future use of humanoid robots that are cheaper for companies to use than human employees.

Also on Monday, the Gates Foundation kicked off a "Global Challenge" that will give a total of $3 million, with up to $100,000 to each participating project, to test new uses of artificial intelligence, overcome everyday obstacles and solve many seemingly intractable problems in low- and middle-income countries.

The challenge also has a very tight timeline, with applications due June 5, followed by the disbursement of funds in July, and subsequent challengers having three months to complete their projects.