One of the pivotal figures in the rise of the graphical user interface says he sees a similar revolution in the new age of artificial intelligence.
In a post Tuesday morning, Bill Gates writes that he challenged OpenAI last year to develop an AI model that could pass the Advanced Placement biology exam without being trained for the questions on the test. He believed that the critical thinking required to pass the test would qualify as a clear breakthrough in the field.
“I thought the challenge would keep them busy for two or three years,” writes the Microsoft co-founder and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-chair. “They finished it in just a few months.”
A version of OpenAI’s GPT scored 59 out of 60 in the multiple choice section of the AP biology exam, and aced the open-ended questions, as assessed by an independent outside expert, he writes.
As a bonus, he adds, the AI answered a question about what to say to a father with a sick child with “a thoughtful answer that was probably better than most of us in the room would have given.”
“The whole experience was stunning,” Gates writes. “I knew I had just seen the most important advance in technology since the graphical user interface. … Soon the pre-AI period will seem as distant as the days when using a computer meant typing at a C:> prompt rather than tapping on a screen.”
Gates calls AI “as fundamental as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the Internet, and the mobile phone. It will change the way people work, learn, travel, get health care, and communicate with each other.”
He adds, “Entire industries will reorient around it. Businesses will distinguish themselves by how well they use it.”
His post comes as Microsoft, Google and others race to bring new AI technologies to market, while attempting to take precautions to avoid unintended consequences. Google started the public rollout of its Bard search chatbot Tuesday morning, and Microsoft released a new image creation tool based on OpenAI’s DALL∙E.
Gates references the potential of AI to improve overall productivity, echoing comments made by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella last week when Microsoft previewed new AI integrations for its core Office products.
Other takeaways from his post:
- He acknowledges problems with AI, including common inaccuracies in response to questions that require abstract reasoning, but says he’s optimistic that many issues will be “largely fixed in less than two years and possibly much faster.”
- Addressing the risk of AI running out of control, he writes, “Could a machine decide that humans are a threat, conclude that its interests are different from ours, or simply stop caring about us? Possibly, but this problem is no more urgent today than it was before the AI developments of the past few months.”
- In his philanthropic work, in global health, Gates sees AI handling basic tasks such as paperwork and triage for healthcare workers, and “dramatically” accelerating the pace of medical breakthroughs.
- In education, Gates acknowledges concerns about cheating on essays. “I’ve heard about teachers who have found clever ways to incorporate the technology into their work—like by allowing students to use GPT to create a first draft that they have to personalize,” he writes.
- He cites the importance of making sure AI advances are available equitably around the world, saying the outcome can’t be left to market forces.
Read his full post on Gates Notes.
