Microsoft founder sees AI as key to effective work
The rapid development of artificial intelligence could allow people to reduce their workweek to just three days. Microsoft founder Bill Gates predicted that there may come a day when people “don't have to work so hard” just to make ends meet.
There is a lot of talk these days about how artificial intelligence technology could cost jobs and harm humanity. Tech giants, however, argue that AI will simply be a tool for increasing productivity and will create more jobs than it will take away. Former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates spoke about how technology can help working-class people, Business Insider reported.
In the podcast “What Now?” with comedian Trevor Noah, billionaire Gates talked about how artificial intelligence can help people who work more than 5 days a week and give them more free time. When asked about the threat of artificial intelligence to jobs, Gates, who has spoken extensively about how misusing the technology can harm society, said there might one day come a time when people “don't have to work so hard.”
“If you end up creating a society where you only have to work three days a week, that's probably fine,” Gates said, adding that there could be a world where “machines can produce all the food and stuff.” and people don't have to work five-plus days a week to earn a living wage.
This is not the first time Bill Gates has spoken about the benefits of artificial intelligence. In March, he wrote a lengthy blog post discussing the merits of artificial intelligence technology and likened how the impact on society could be as great as cell phones and the Internet. He stressed that AI has the potential to revolutionize various sectors, but highlighted the risks associated with this technology if it is used inappropriately.
“It will change the way people work, learn, travel, get medical care and communicate with each other. Entire industries are refocusing on AI. Enterprises will differ in how well they use it,” Gates notes in his blog.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella emphasizes in a memo sent to employees that AI “is just a tool that is a means and not the goal.”
Let us recall that recently there was an uproar on the Internet due to a comment by Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy. He noted that Indian youth “must work at least 70 hours a week to increase productivity and compete with fast-growing countries like China and Japan.”
Bill Gates is not the first to see such a benefit in AI like shortening the work week. In October, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon predicted that artificial intelligence would allow people to work just three and a half days a week.
“Your children will live to be 100 without getting cancer thanks to technology, and they will probably work three and a half days a week,” the bank director told Bloomberg news agency.
Goldman Sachs analysts predicted that generative AI could ultimately cost 300 million people their jobs. But Jamie Dimon says fear of AI is unfounded.
“People need to take a deep breath, okay? “Technology has always replaced jobs,” Dimon added when asked about the prospect of massive job losses.
Gates previously considered sleep a lazy activity and told Noah that from the age of 18 to 40, his entire life was connected with Microsoft . He now feels that “the purpose of life is not just to get work done.”
Companies in the US and Europe are testing how people will work during a four-day work week, according to Business Insider. Some provided positive reports of improved work-life balance and efficiency.
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