Video : Bill Gates is optimistic about the future of AI

This year was the first time I used artificial intelligence for work, and not just for the novelty.
I suspect it’s the same for many people.
We are now at the beginning of a major technological transition.
We live in exciting and confusing times, full of uncertainty about how AI will shape the coming years, but it’s clearer than ever how AI can be used to improve productivity and scale productivity, access to education, mental health care and more.

My work is always linked to one central idea: Innovation is the key to progress.
That’s why I founded Microsoft.
That’s why Melinda and I founded the Gates Foundation more than 20 years ago.
And that’s why life around the world has improved so much over the past century.
Since 2000, the world has almost halved the number of children who die before the age of five – and innovation is the main reason.
Scientists have found new ways to make vaccines faster and cheaper while still being safe.
They have developed new delivery mechanisms that work in the most remote places in the world, reaching more children and creating new vaccines that protect children against deadly diseases like rotavirus .
In a world of limited resources, you must find ways to maximize impact.
Innovation is key to getting the most out of every dollar spent.

And AI is poised to accelerate new discoveries at a pace never seen before.
By far, one of the biggest impacts has involved the creation of new drugs.
AI tools can significantly speed up the drug development process, and several companies are already working on cancer drugs developed this way.
One of the Gates Foundation’s key AI priorities is ensuring that these tools are also used to fight health problems such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, which disproportionately affect the poorest people in the world.
world.

I believe there is enormous potential in using AI to improve lives in low- and middle-income countries.
I recently met several innovators from developing countries during a trip to Senegal.
They are conducting incredible AI research with the intention that one day it will benefit everyone in their community.
Much of their work is still in the early stages of development, but it is setting the stage for a major tech boom later this decade.

Bill Gates: Why I’m optimistic about the future of AI