In a recent interview, Bill Gates expressed his optimism about the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI). The founder of Microsoft firmly believes that this technology can bring about a real revolution in areas such as education, agriculture, and healthcare. Furthermore, he emphasized that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is fully focused on inequalities, including in these sectors.
Education: bridging the teacher gap with AI
Education is a field where AI can provide significant help, particularly in regions suffering from a severe lack of teachers. In Africa, for example, there are classrooms with sometimes hundreds of students, which prevents providing the individual attention needed for those who require it. Artificial intelligence could transform this situation by offering an “AI teacher” for each student.
Machine translation and accessibility of textbooks
Another challenge faced by African education is the multitude of local languages. Textbooks are often available only in certain languages, creating an obstacle for many students. Thanks to the advanced translation capabilities of artificial intelligence, this problem could be solved by facilitating the transcription and distribution of textbooks in different languages.
Agriculture: optimizing predictions and analyses
In the agricultural sector, artificial intelligence can help farmers make more comprehensive, accurate, and reliable predictions and analyses. By aggregating data from a multitude of sources such as satellite images and news updates, AI also provides clear answers to simple questions. This technological support would enable players in the agricultural world to make informed decisions and improve their productivity.
Supporting the agri-food sector
The agri-food industry could also greatly benefit from developments in artificial intelligence. For example, food inspection, supply chain monitoring, and inventory management could be simplified and automated through AI, thus contributing to improving the quality of food products and reducing waste.
Healthcare: AI consultations and decongesting hospitals
As for the healthcare field, artificial intelligence could offer consultations to address many common conditions, thus avoiding patients having to wait several weeks for a hospital appointment. The advantage is even more significant in remote rural areas where access to medical services can be difficult and limited.
Fund to accelerate the deployment of AI in Africa
To accelerate the arrival of artificial intelligence on the African continent, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will fund associations and companies to ensure that this technology emerges in a few years instead of several decades. Bill Gates particularly aims to leverage mobile phones, as a large part of the population already has access to them.
Conclusion:
Artificial intelligence could lead to significant transformations in the fields of education, agriculture, and health in Africa. Bill Gates and his foundation are particularly optimistic about the rapid development of these changes, emphasizing the importance of reducing inequalities and improving the quality of life for millions of people through AI.
