Bill Gates: AI holds Key to global equity transformation

Recently, billionaire Bill Gates has said that if we make smart investments now, artificial intelligence (AI) can make the world a more equitable place, by reducing or eliminating the lag time between when the rich world gets an innovation and when the poor world does,.

In an official blog post titled ‘The road ahead reaches a turning point in 2024,’ the Microsoft Co-founder said that we can learn a lot from global health about how to make AI more equitable.

One of the biggest impacts made so far has been in the creation of new medicines. Drug discovery requires combing through massive amounts of data, and “AI tools can speed up that process significantly”.

He stresses “Some companies are already working on cancer drugs developed this way. But a key priority of the Gates Foundation in AI is ensuring these tools also address health issues that disproportionately affect the world's poorest, like AIDS, TB, and malaria.”

Nana Kofi Quakyi from the Aurum Institute in Ghana is working on an AI-powered tool that helps health workers prescribe antibiotics without contributing to antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

On the question can AI help treat high-risk pregnancies, Gates met some of the researchers at non-profit Armaan this year, who hope to use artificial intelligence to improve the odds for new mothers in India.

On the question can AI help people assess their risk for HIV, he said that for many people, talking to a doctor or nurse about their sexual history can be uncomfortable.