Bill Gates, Microsoft’s founder, has stated that African governments need Artificial Intelligence (AI) to overcome the continent’s existing teacher and doctor deficit. Gates announced this on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where artificial intelligence is at the forefront of debates.
Gates stated that he is already sponsoring pilot research in Africa to develop AI teachers and doctors. While acknowledging that poorer countries lag in technology utilization, Gates stated that he is determined to ensuring that the typical 20-year gap between rich and poor countries in technology adoption does not persist with AI.
Gates said that AI will make the world wealthy, and that the technology would increase productivity in all areas of the world. According to him, the primary driver of AI growth will be the competition between Microsoft and Google.
“It is incredible how AI enhances white-collar productivity and, with robotics, not yet but eventually, blue-collar productivity. So this is fantastic for the globe. AI will make the planet richer. We are deeply committed to eliminating the typical 20-year gap between affluent and underdeveloped countries. In Africa, there is a greater scarcity of teachers and doctors than anywhere else. We will use AI to create new tools like ultrasounds and provide tailored health advice in local African languages. We have already funded pilot studies with Africans to bring the best technology to their countries.In fact, in some circumstances, rich-world rules may impede its implementation compared to nations such as India or Africa. So it’s a race, but it’s for the greater good. And I couldn’t be happier, as is the case with my continuous work with Microsoft. And it helps me comprehend how we will implement this in developing nations,” Gates remarked.
While there have been concerns that AI could eliminate many jobs, Gates is more concerned that the technology’s productivity benefit will be abused. According to him, AI as a fantastic tool for making humans more productive “means the bad guys will be more productive so they can do more cyber attacks and design weapons.”
