Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is currently on a book tour for his newly released memoir, Source Code: My Beginnings. Over the weekend, he appeared on The Tonight Show, one of the longest-running late-night talk shows in the U.S.
Host Jimmy Fallon asked Gates about the pros and cons of AI, and his response left the studio momentarily silent in thought.
The tech billionaire stated that humans will no longer be needed for “most things” as AI becomes increasingly integrated into daily life.
He elaborated that while we wouldn’t want machines playing entertainment sports like baseball, when it comes to manufacturing, transportation, and agriculture, AI will eventually take over those tasks.
Gates’ answer sparked concern among some people, especially as fears of AI replacing jobs continue to grow. A study conducted last year by Imperial College and DIW Berlin also highlighted this issue.
“In the next decade, AI will become even more widespread, offering precise and useful advice,” Gates shared. He emphasized that AI could help solve real-world problems, such as the shortage of doctors and mental health professionals.
Gates posed the question of whether people will eventually work only two to three days a week while being more efficient. The job market will undergo significant changes, but how those changes will unfold remains uncertain.
The 10-minute interview wasn’t solely focused on AI—it also revisited the early days of Microsoft and how people laughed at Gates when he predicted that, in the future, everyone would have a computer on their desk.
Fallon also brought up a remark from Steve Jobs, who once said that Gates didn’t understand design and should try LSD to boost his creativity. Gates responded that he actually did try LSD afterward—but instead of thinking about design, he ended up contemplating source code.
Bill Gates stepped down as CEO of Microsoft in 2000 and left the company’s board in 2020 to focus more on philanthropy. However, reports suggest that he still holds some influence within the company.
Although he is no longer leading Microsoft’s AI advancements, he wrote a blog post in 2023 about AI agents, a concept he first mentioned in 1995. The post clarified that Clippy, the Microsoft Office assistant, was actually a bot rather than an AI agent.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently echoed Gates’ views on AI’s future in an interview. He stated that humans will inevitably be surrounded by robots.
“Almost everything will become a robot someday, and that day is coming very soon,” Huang said in an episode of Huge Conversations with Cleo Abram. “Every vehicle will become a robot, humanoid robots are just around the corner.”
