Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates says the development of artificial intelligence (AI) is the most important technological advance in decades.

In a post on Social Media on Tuesday, he called it 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, receive healthcare and communicate with each other,” he said.
He wrote about the technology used by tools like the ChatGPT chatbot.

Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot programmed to answer questions online using human-like natural language.

The team behind it, in January 2023, received a multi-billion dollar investment from Microsoft – where Mr Gates still serves as an adviser.

Mr Gates said he had been meeting with OpenAI – the team behind the artificial intelligence that powers the ChatGPT chatbot – since 2016.

In his blog, Mr Gates said he challenged the OpenAI team in 2022 to train an AI that could pass an Advanced Placement (AP) Biology exam – roughly equivalent to an A-level exam – with the strict rule that AI they could not be specifically trained to answer Biology questions.

A few months later the results revealed a nearly perfect score, he said, missing only one point out of 50!

After the exam, Mr. Gates said he asked the AI ​​to write a response to a father with a sick child.

“He wrote a thoughtful response that was probably better than most of us in the room would have given,” he said.

“I knew I had just seen the most significant advance in technology.”