Over the past few months, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has seemingly turned into a prophet of doom, making interesting deductions and predictions about the trajectory of generative AI as it scales greater heights, and ultimately, its impact on humanity.
In February, the philanthropic billionaire claimed that AI will replace humans for most things, indicating that humans will have the free will to chose tasks and activities that they’d like to preserve for themselves. He jokingly indicated that no one would like to watch computers playing baseball.
He further indicated that only three professions would survive the AI revolution, including biologists, energy experts, and coders. Gates indicated that these fields are too complex to be fully automated using AI, and that they still need human intervention.
Building on this premise, the Microsoft co-founder recently made more predictions about the future of work with the prevalence of AI. While speaking on a podcast with Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamathm, the executive indicated that (via The Economic Times):
“Let’s say 20 years from now, AI will have changed things enough that just this pure capitalistic framework probably won’t explain much because AI both sort of white-collar type work and, as blue-collar workers, the robots will get some good hands and are able to do the physical things the humans do.”
The billionaire attributed his deductions to a speculation that the world would no longer face challenges such as shortages in certain professions, including medicine, education, and more.
Interestingly, the executive doesn’t view the drastic changes as a bad thing. In fact, he views it as a welcome change that fosters shorter work weeks, allowing people to go into early retirement.
This isn’t the first time the Microsoft co-founder has floated the idea of a shorter work week in the AI era. He has previously been spotted indicating that the technology could create a 2 or 3 day work opportunity in the next 10 years.
Do you think AI will replace humans and steal jobs? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
