AI could transform global inequalities or ‘widen the gap’, warns Bill Gates

New technologies bring with them both threats and promises and it is going to be no different with artificial intelligence (AI). While headlines around the globe have been dominated this week with warnings that AI could wipe out humanity, it also holds the prospect of making our lives longer, healthier and infinitely more prosperous. The two can be true at once. The industrial revolution ushered in an age of health and wealth that was far beyond the imagination of those who lived before it, doubling lifespans globally and dramatically suppressing deaths from malnutrition and infectious disease. But industrialisation also all but ended the rural idle in the west and condemned millions to urban slums and harsh repetitive labour. It gave us two world wars and the holocaust, while nuclear power has brought us to the brink of annihilation at least once. Many are now predicting AI will usher in change every bit as profound, albeit in a much shorter time span; one measured in years rather than decades or centuries. It is against this backdrop that the Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates announced a $1 billion investment in AI on Tuesday to “help build and deliver equitable AI that improves health and opportunity”. The announcement comes as the Gates Foundation launches its 10th annual Goalkeepers Report, which tracks the world’s progress towards the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.