The age of AI has begun: Bill Gates
The world of technology has seen some significant breakthroughs in the past few decades, but none as groundbreaking as the OpenAI's GPT AI model, according to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Gates praised the model, calling it the most revolutionary advance in technology since he first saw a modern graphical desktop environment (GUI) in 1980.
Gates shared in a blog post his fascination with the GPT models, which can write human-like text and generate nearly usable computer code.
The tech mogul also reminisced about his amazement at the GUI technology, which he based Windows on, creating modern-day software excellence.
In that era, people used their computers through a command line. Taking the “GUI” technology, Gates based Windows around it, creating modern-day software excellence.
The tech giant shares his awe for a 1980 graphical user interface and the OpenAI team's groundbreaking demonstration last year.
Gates said he challenged the OpenAI team last year to develop an artificial intelligence model that could pass the Advanced Placement Biology exam. GPT-4, released to the public last week, scored the maximum score, according to OpenAI.
"I thought the challenge would keep them busy for two or three years. They finished it in just a few months," he added.
“The whole experience was stunning. I knew I had just seen the most important advance in technology since the graphical user interface," Gates wrote.
He continued, “The development of AI is 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. Entire industries will reorient around it. Businesses will distinguish themselves by how well they use it."
Gates became the latest big technocrat to take a position on recent advancements in AI as a major shift in the technology industry. Earlier, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos vouched for data-based machine learning could change entire industries.
Gates and Microsoft have close ties to OpenAI, which developed the GPT model. Microsoft invested $10 billion in the startup and sells some of its AI software through Azure cloud services.
The Microsoft bigwig said he believed governments and philanthropies should back AI tools to improve education and health in the developing world because companies won’t necessarily choose to make those investments themselves.