{"id":542,"date":"2023-03-22T08:18:32","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T08:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/bill-gates-ai-is-most-important-tech-advance-in-decades\/"},"modified":"2023-03-22T08:18:32","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T08:18:32","slug":"bill-gates-ai-is-most-important-tech-advance-in-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/bill-gates-ai-is-most-important-tech-advance-in-decades\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Gates: AI is most important tech advance in decades"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bill Gates: AI is most important tech advance in decades<\/p>\n

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By Tom Gerken<\/div>\n
Technology reporter<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates says the development of artificial intelligence (AI) is the most important technological advance in decades.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In a blog post on Tuesday, he called it as fundamental as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the Internet, and the mobile phone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“It will change the way people work, learn, travel, get health care, and communicate with each other,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He was writing about the technology used by tools such as chatbot ChatGPT. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT is an AI chatbot which is programmed to answer questions online using natural, human-like language. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The team behind it in January 2023 received a multibillion dollar investment from Microsoft – where Mr Gates still serves as an advisor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But it is not the only AI-powered chatbot available, with Google recently introducing rival Bard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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I was one of the first people to get access to Bard and my colleagues and I are trying to put it through its paces. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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So far it’s given me a philosophical answer to the meaning of life. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It gave a competent potted history of Russia-China relations to a colleague covering the meeting between President Putin and Xi Jinping – unlike ChatGPT, Bard can access current affairs. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A programme editor asked it for a good running order for her news show. Start with the biggest story of the day, Bard suggested, and end with a musician or comedian. It also did a decent if generic job of a poem about trees and blossom. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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I haven’t yet started trying to get it to be rude to me, or about others. I’ll report back on that\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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You can read more about it here.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Gates said he had been meeting with OpenAI – the team behind the artificial intelligence that powers chatbot ChatGPT – since 2016. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In his blog, Mr Gates said he challenged the OpenAI team in 2022 to train an AI that can pass an Advanced Placement (AP) Biology exam – roughly equivalent to an A-level exam – with the strict rule that the AI could not be specifically trained to answer Biology questions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A few months later they revealed the results – a near perfect score, he said, missing only one mark out of 50.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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After the exam, Mr Gates said he asked the AI to write a response to a father with a sick child.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“It wrote a thoughtful answer that was probably better than most of us in the room would have given,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I knew I had just seen the most important advance in technology since the graphical user interface (GUI).”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A GUI is a visual display – allowing a person to interact with images and icons, rather than a display that shows only text and requires typed commands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Its development led to the Windows and Mac OS operating systems in the 1980s, and remains a key part of computing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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And Mr Gates says he believes AI tech will lead to similar advancements.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Future of AI<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Mr Gates, who co-chairs the charitable Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, called on governments to work with industry to “limit the risks” of AI, but said the technology could be used to save lives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“AI-driven improvements will be especially important for poor countries, where the vast majority of under-5 deaths happen,” he wrote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Many people in those countries never get to see a doctor, and AIs will help the health workers they do see be more productive.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Some examples of this he gave include completing repetitive tasks such as insurance claims, paperwork, and note-taking.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But in order for this to happen, Mr Gates called on a targeted approach to AI technology in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Market forces won’t naturally produce AI products and service that help the poorest,” he said. “The opposite is more likely.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“With reliable funding and the right policies, governments and philanthropy can ensure that AIs are used to reduce inequity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Just as the world needs its brightest people focused on its biggest problems, we will need to focus the world’s best AIs on its biggest problems.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Related Topics<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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