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Bill Gates took to Reddit to stage an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on the site, fielding questions from Internet users pertaining to a whole host of different topics, from him potentially running for President of the United States through to the fierce iPhone encryption debate.
Take a look at some of the Microsoft founder and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s best responses below:
On the iPhone encryption debate…
“I think there needs to be a discussion about when the government should be able to gather information. What if we had never had wiretapping? Also the government needs to talk openly about safeguards. Right now a lot of people don’t think the government has the right checks to make sure information is only used in criminal situations. So this case will be viewed as the start of a discussion. I think very few people take the extreme view that the government should be blind to financial and communication data but very few people think giving the government carte blanche without safeguards makes sense. A lot of countries like the UK and France are also going through this debate. For tech companies there needs to be some consistency including how governments work with each other. The sooner we modernize the laws the better.
“Maybe [Apple] could propose an overall plan for striking the balance between government being able to know things in some cases and having safeguards to make sure those powers are confined to appropriate cases. There is no avoiding this debate and they could contribute to how the balance should be struck.”
On Artificial Intelligence…
“I haven’t seen any concrete proposal on how you would do the regulation. I think it is worth discussing because I share the view of Musk and Hawking that when a few people control a platform with extreme intelligence it creates dangers in terms of power and eventually control.”
On running for President of the United States…
“I like my current job at the Foundation better than I would being President. Also I wouldn’t be good at doing what you need to do to get elected. I thought Michael Bloomberg was thoughtful about why it didn’t make sense for him to try and run even though he is a great executive.”
On education…
“I think the value of getting a great education – that is going to college – is easy to underestimate. The most interesting jobs require a college education. The STEM related jobs are probably the most interesting although they are not for everyone. The value of staying curious – reading a lot and learning new things even after college is also underestimated.”
On the future of quantum computing…
“Microsoft and others are working on quantum computing. It isn’t clear when it will work or become mainstream. There is a chance that within 6-10 years that cloud computing will offer super-computation by using quantum. It could help use solve some very important science problems including materials and catalyst design.”
On a technological advancement he wishes existed…
“I recently saw a company working on “robotic” surgery where the ability to work at small scales was stunning. The idea that this will make surgeries higher quality, faster and less expensive is pretty exciting. It will probably take a decade before this gets mainstream – to date it has mostly been used for prostate surgery.
In the Foundation work there are a lot of tools we are working on we don’t have yet. For example an implant to protect a woman from getting HIV because it releases a protective drug.”
On what society will accomplish within the next two decades…
“First is an energy innovation to lower the cost and get rid of greenhouse gases. This isn’t guaranteed so we need a lot of public and private risk taking.
“Second is progress on disease particularly infectious disease. Polio, Malaria, HIV, TB, etc.. are all diseases we should be able to either eliminate of bring down close to zero. There is amazing science that makes us optimistic this will happen.
“Third are tools to help make education better – to help teachers learn how to teach better and to help students learn and understand why they should learn and reinforce their confidence.
“I think robots that have vision and manipulation as good as humans is a huge milestone that will happen in the next decade and is being underestimated.
“I think medical advances will also be amazing and unbelievable. Like the robots some of the capabilities like gene editing will bring challenges with them.”
On politicians disregarding climate change…
“Politics operates in 4 years cycles and climate change is a challenge that needs decades of work to reduce green house gas emission. I am disappointed that the US is where the debate has been the most difficult. November in Paris was a positive milestone with a commitment to reductions and a commitment to innovation by the governments and private sector.”
On what makes him feel powerless…
“The problem of how we prevent a small group of terrorists using nuclear or biological means to kill millions is something I worry about. If Government does their best work they have a good chance of detecting it and stopping it but I don’t think it is getting enough attention and I know I can’t solve it.”
