- Bill Gates warned AI is advancing rapidly, potentially outpacing global readiness
- AI can perform writing, simple coding, and tele support tasks once done by humans
- Customer support and tele sales jobs are among the first affected by AI substitution
Artificial intelligence (AI) will free us to do better work, but the world may not be ready for how fast it's growing, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has said. "The question is, if it comes so fast that you don't have time to adjust to it," he said.
In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Mr Gates spoke candidly about the rapid development of AI and its growing impact on jobs. He said he is surprised at how rapidly AI is advancing and is capable of completing many tasks once considered unique to humans, such as writing content, generating simple codes, or providing telesupport.
For example, customer support centres are increasingly using AI chatbots. He said, "Mr Gates said tasks such as writing and simple coding are now being handled efficiently by AI tools.
He mentioned that jobs like telesales and tele support are among the first to be affected as AI can perform these tasks more accurately and at a lower cost than humans. "That's an example of labour substitution," he said. "But on the other end, you have the most creative things humans do, like developing a new drug to treat tuberculosis, he added.
"Having AI do that work is way cheaper and more accurate than humans. That's where labour substitution is already happening," added Mr Gates.
When asked about the impact on young professionals, Mr Gates acknowledged that college graduates could face a tougher job market. He said, "When you improve productivity, you can free up these people to have smaller class sizes or have longer vacations or to help do more."
AI has the potential to replace a large number of entry-level white-collar occupations in the upcoming years, according to several experts. As robotic technologies advance, even manual labour roles may be impacted. According to Mr Gates, robotic arms are not yet advanced, but once they are, they may have an effect on a greater number of people working there.
His statement comes at a time when several companies are rapidly shifting to AI. Recently, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, revealed that 30 per cent of the tech giant's code is now written by artificial intelligence.
