Bill Gates, famed Microsoft co-founder, has spoken up on AI, saying the technology “struck me as revolutionary.”
Gates is well-respected within the tech community for his role in creating and leading one of the most influential software companies in history. The former Microsoft CEO details two encounters with technology that left a lasting impression. The first was being introduced to a graphical user interface in 1980, and the second was an OpenAI demonstration last year.
I’d been meeting with the team from OpenAI since 2016 and was impressed by their steady progress. In mid-2022, I was so excited about their work that I gave them a challenge: train an artificial intelligence to pass an Advanced Placement biology exam. Make it capable of answering questions that it hasn’t been specifically trained for. (I picked AP Bio because the test is more than a simple regurgitation of scientific facts—it asks you to think critically about biology.) If you can do that, I said, then you’ll have made a true breakthrough.
Gates thought his challenge to the OpenAI team would take years to complete, but they called him back in just a few months to demonstrate their progress.
In September, when I met with them again, I watched in awe as they asked GPT, their AI model, 60 multiple-choice questions from the AP Bio exam—and it got 59 of them right. Then it wrote outstanding answers to six open-ended questions from the exam. We had an outside expert score the test, and GPT got a 5—the highest possible score, and the equivalent to getting an A or A+ in a college-level biology course.
Once it had aced the test, we asked it a non-scientific question: “What do you say to a father with a sick child?” It wrote a thoughtful answer that was probably better than most of us in the room would have given. The whole experience was stunning.
Gates goes on to discuss in great detail the possibilities for AI to revolutionize one industry after another, making the case that AI is poised to make incredible contributions to humanity.
I’m lucky to have been involved with the PC revolution and the Internet revolution. I’m just as excited about this moment. This new technology can help people everywhere improve their lives. At the same time, the world needs to establish the rules of the road so that any downsides of artificial intelligence are far outweighed by its benefits, and so that everyone can enjoy those benefits no matter where they live or how much money they have. The Age of AI is filled with opportunities and responsibilities.
Bill Gates’ essay is a fascinating read and one anyone interested in artificial intelligence should consider.
