Artificial intelligence is about to accelerate the pace of new discoveries at a rate never seen before

In his ritual forecast letter, Bill Gates writes “Artificial intelligence is about to accelerate the pace of new discoveries at a pace never seen before.”

The importance of developing applications based on Artificial Intelligence, for the care of people, in problematic areas of the planet.

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According to Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates in his year-end conference, the use of artificial intelligence applications by the general population in developed countries such as the United States to a “significant” extent will begin in the next 18-24 months . letter published last week.

The impact on things like productivity and innovation could be unprecedented, Gates says.

“Artificial intelligence is about to accelerate the pace of new discoveries at a rate never seen before,” Gates wrote on his blog.

Gates, part of the Gates Foundation he founded with Melinda French Gates, focused his remarks in the letter on the uses of artificial intelligence in developing countries.

“A key priority of the Gates Foundation in the field of artificial intelligence is to ensure that these tools also address health problems that disproportionately affect the world's poorest, such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria,” Gates wrote.

Gates cites multiple applications of Artificial Intelligence in different countries, while stressing that practical implementation will not happen this year but in the final years of this decade.

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“The work that will be done in the coming year is setting the stage for a massive technology boom by the end of this decade” through artificial intelligence, Gates wrote.

Examples of artificial intelligence applications

Developed for uses in education and fighting disease cited by Gates in his letter include:

• Fighting antibiotic resistance, or antimicrobial resistance (AMR). A researcher at the Aurum Institute in Ghana, Africa, is working on a software tool that will analyze reams of information. In particular “including local clinical guidelines and health surveillance data on which pathogens are currently at risk of developing resistance in the area and making suggestions on the best drug, dosage and duration.”
• Personalized education based on artificial intelligence, such as “Somanasi”. An AI-based tutoring software program. In Nairobi that “it was designed with the cultural context in mind so that it is familiar to the students who use it”.
• Reduce risks during pregnancy, given that on average globally “a woman dies in childbirth every two minutes”. Solutions include a “Copilot” software program for healthcare providers. Developed in India by Armman for nurses and midwives working to: “improve the chances of new mothers in India” and that adapts to the level of experience of the aid worker.
• An HIV risk assessment chatbot that “acts as an impartial, non-judgmental advisor capable of providing advice around the clock.” In particular to “marginalized and vulnerable populations” who are reluctant to talk to doctors about their sexual history.
• A voice-activated mobile app for healthcare workers in Pakistan that allows them to speak with a prompt to fill out a medical record. When they visit a patient in the field, in order to fill the gap where “many people have no documented medical history.”

Local applications of Artificial Intelligence

Gates places particular emphasis on AI applications that are being developed in their respective countries and which will presumably be more in tune with the realities of those countries. For example, voice input in Pakistan's health records app corresponds to the common practice of people sending voice messages on mobile devices rather than typing them.

“We can learn a lot from global health about how to make AI more equitable. The main lesson is that the product must be tailored to the people who will use it,” Gates wrote.

Gates predicts that the developing world will not be far behind the developed world in seeing the adoption of AI applications:

If I had to make a prediction, in high-income countries like the United States, I would say we are 18-24 months away from significant levels of AI use among the general population. In African countries, I expect to see a comparable level of usage in about three years. It's still a gap, but it's much shorter than the lag times we've seen with other innovations.

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Ercole Palmeri