Bill Gates has emphasized the importance of the next generation addressing at least four crucial issues as society advances. Despite his immense wealth, Gates has concerns that are focused on what lies ahead.
At 69 years old, Gates is less worried about his own future and more about the challenges facing the younger generations.
In a conversation with Patrick Collison, Gates highlighted four significant issues that young people today need to focus on, noting that during his youth, the main concern was nuclear war.
During the discussion, he remarked, “There’s, you know, about four or five things that are very scary, and the only one that I really understood and worried about a lot when I was young was nuclear war.”
While the threat of nuclear conflict is still present, it is widely agreed that nuclear war and its aftermath would be catastrophic for humanity.
Gates indicated that alongside the threat of nuclear war, there are now at least three other critical concerns that should be acknowledged.
He stated, “Today I think we’d add climate change, bioterrorism/pandemic, and keeping control of AI in some form.”
“So, you know, now we have four footnotes. The younger generation has to be very afraid of those things.”
While Gates has previously discussed the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, he acknowledges that it presents both challenges and opportunities.
Gates noted, “We don’t have as many medical experts, you know, people who can stay on top of everything, or people who can do math tutoring in the inner city.”
“We have a shortage of intelligence, and so we use this market system to kind of allocate it. AI, over time—and people can argue about the time frames—will make intelligence essentially free.”
Despite his concerns, Gates is hopeful about the prospects for humanity and the younger generations. He believes that, despite the obstacles, they will ultimately be in a better position.
He concluded, “Absent not solving some of these big problems, things are going to be so much better off.”
“Alzheimer’s, obesity, you know, we’ll have a cure for HIV, we will have gotten rid of polio, measles, malaria. The pace of innovation is greater today than ever.”
According to Bill Gates, the future holds promise alongside its challenges.