'Bill, Go Play Pickleball': Microsoft founder says he's scared about AI 'taking his job'

While expressing his thoughts on the evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Microsoft founder Bill Gates said that he is worried that AI might take people’s jobs including his own.

In a recent episode of the Tech Magnet’s podcast titled “Unconfuse Me with Bill Gates,” he sat down with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. During the conversation, both Gates and Altman deep-dived into the current state and the future of AI.

Gates mentioned that initially he was sceptical of AI’s rapid advancements and insisted that he was astonished at how sophisticated AI models like ChatGPT have become.

“I was very sceptical. I didn’t expect ChatGPT to get so good,” Gates said. However, he admitted that he lacked an understanding of how these models encode complex information.

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Altman assured that the intricacies of AI and operations would eventually unravel and drew parallels between the elusive nature of understanding human brain function and the challenges of fully grasping AI’s internal workings.

Gates worries AI would steal his job

During the discussion, the Microsoft founder expressed concerns about the downsides of AI and highlighted the fear that it is taking people’s jobs, including his own.

“I get a lot of excitement that, hey, I’m good at working on malaria, and malaria eradication, and getting smart people and applying resources to that,” he said. “When the machine says to me, ‘Bill, go play pickleball, I’ve got malaria eradication. You’re just a slow thinker,’ then it is a philosophically confusing thing,” he quipped.

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Gates also pointed out the risks of AI getting into the hands of bad actors. Meanwhile, Altman also pointed out that AI has the potential to impact the “geopolitical balance of power.”

In the past, Gates has emphasised that AI will transform everyone’s life in the next five years. During an interview with CNN, Gates elucidated how AI will make everyone’s lives easier. He gave an example of how AI is helping doctors do their paperwork, which is “part of the job they don’t like, we can make that very efficient.”

It is important to note that Microsoft has a multibillion-dollar partnership with the OpenAI and Gates continues to remain Microsoft’s largest shareholder.