A new blog by Bill Gates: "Artificial intelligence is about to completely change the way we use computersai is about to completely change how you use computers》
By Bill Gates
Translation: Baoyu.
Date: November 09, 2023.
Just like when I founded Microsoft with Paul Allen, my love for software remains undiminished to this day. But there's no denying that while software has come a long way over the decades, it's still not smart enough in many ways.
To do anything on a computer, you need to tell it exactly which app to use. Whether you're writing a business proposal in Microsoft Word or Google Docs, they won't help you send emails, share**, analyze data, plan meetups, or buy movie tickets. Even the best** won't be able to fully understand your work, personal life, interests, and relationships, let alone use that information to help you. This kind of thing can only be done by people at the moment, such as your buddy or personal assistant.
But in the next five years, everything will change dramatically. You no longer need to switch between different apps for different tasks. Just tell your computer what you want to do in the usual language, and depending on how much information you're willing to share, the software will be able to react more personally, as it will have a deeper understanding of your life. In the not-too-distant future, anyone who is online will have an AI-powered personal assistant with capabilities far beyond existing technology.
Such software – software that understands natural language and accomplishes a variety of tasks based on what it knows about the user – is known as an AI agent. I've been thinking about AI agents for almost 30 years and mentioned them in my 1995 book, The Way Forward, but it's only recently that these ideas have become possible thanks to the development of AI.
AI agents will not only change the way we interact with computers, they will also usher in a seismic shift in the software industry, which will be the most significant revolution in computing since we moved from typing commands to clicking icons.
Some reviewers have pointed out that while software companies have tried to launch similar services before, they have not been widely accepted by users. (For example, we rolled out and then eliminated the digital assistant Paperclip in Microsoft Office.)