During his recent appearance in the program of Jimmy Fallon And in a talk in Harvard with the teacher Arthur Brooks, Bill Gates He launched a overwhelming statement: “Within ten years, most human tasks can be performed by artificial intelligence”Far from being a simple provocation, his words reveal a deep vision – and in disturbing parts – of a world in full transformation. GatesAI represents much more than a new technological milestone; It symbolizes the next evolutionary leap of the digital age, a process that he helped to boost since the 80s, when he dreamed of putting a computer in each home. Today, on the other hand, imagines an omnipresent, imperceptible and accessible intelligence, which will be introduced into every aspect of everyday life.
The concept of intelligence at no cost
One of his most provocative ideas is that of one “free intelligence”: A knowledge that anyone can access, regardless of their level of studies or place of residence. Gatesit will no longer be necessary to depend on exceptional experts, such as elite doctors or brilliant teachers. Instead, artificial intelligence systems will be available to provide medical diagnoses or academic tutorials at a mass and cost scale.
During his speech at Harvard, Gates confessed to feeling both fascinated and worried about this accelerated evolution: “It is something very deep and even a bit scary … because it is happening very fast, and there is no upper limit,” he said. This unstoppable speed raises a crucial issue: what will be the role of the human being in an environment where machines think for us?
Education and health: the first fields instead
Gates visualizes a near future where two key areas – education and health – will be radically transformed by AI. Imagine virtual tutors capable of adapting teaching to each student, detecting specific weaknesses and promoting learning in a personalized way. It will no longer try to digitize the classrooms, but to adopt a teaching based on algorithms that could alter the role of the teacher as we know it.
In the health field, artificial intelligence promises even more impact. According to Gates, these tools will be able to make more precise medical diagnoses than those of many human professionals, by combining genetic data, symptoms, clinical history and scientific literature in real time. Far from eliminating the doctor, AI would serve to amplify their capacity for action, reaching isolated communities, areas with saturated hospitals and regions where medical care is scarce. “Physicians could become a problem of the past,” he said.
Hopeful advance or systemic risk?
However, not everyone shares their hopeful vision. Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of AI in Microsoft and author of The Coming Waveconsiders that this transformation will not be limited to improving human work, but will directly replace many workers. In his opinion, we are facing a technological wave that will deeply alter the work overview, redesigning professions and causing an unprecedented disruption in multiple sectors.
Suleyman He acknowledges that AI will generate wealth and economic dynamism, but also warns that its effect will be eminently “work substitute.” That is, evolution will not necessarily imply an improvement in human tasks, but the passage to a productive system where many functions will no longer require human intervention.
This ambivalence between progress and threat is not new. Gates, who worked for decades to reduce the digital divide, today acknowledges that the problem is not simply accessing technology, but knowing how to use it responsible. He recalled how platforms such as social networks have been used to spread misinformation and deepen social divisions: “Sometimes, when you empower humans, it is not always directed in the right direction,” he warned.
The future is still in dispute
Although his vision does not fall into pessimism, Gates It does transmit a clear warning. In the best case, AI could serve as a tool to democratize knowledge and medical care, closing historical gaps. But it could also be used inappropriately, amplifying existing inequalities, displacing millions of workers and generating more confusion than clarity.