AI can make the world a more equitable place: Bill Gates

If we make smart investments now artificial intelligence AI can make the world a more equitable place reducing or even eliminating the lag time between when the rich world gets innovation and when the poor world does billionaire Bill Gates has saidIn a blog post titled lsquoThe road ahead reaches a turning point in 2024rsquo the Microsoft Cofounder said that we can learn a lot from global health about how to make AI more equitableldquoThe main lesson is that the product must be tailored to the people who will use itrdquo he wroteOne of the biggest impacts so far is on creating new medicines Drug discovery requires combing through massive amounts of data and ldquoAI tools can speed up that process significantlyrdquoAlso Read Artificial intelligence can assist not replace us in treating cardiovascular diseases CardiologistsldquoSome 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 worlds poorest like AIDS TB and malariardquo he stressedCan AI combat antibiotic resistanceNana Kofi Quakyi from the Aurum Institute in Ghana is working on an AIpowered tool that helps health workers prescribe antibiotics without contributing to antimicrobial resistance AMRldquoThe tool will comb through all the available informationmdashincluding local clinical guidelines and health surveillance data about which pathogens are currently at risk of developing resistance in the areamdashand make suggestions for the best drug dosage and durationrdquo Gates informedOn the question can AI help treat highrisk pregnancies Gates met some of the researchers at nonprofit Armaan this year who hope to use artificial intelligence to improve the odds for new mothers in IndiaAlso Read Medical experts unravel the role of artificial intelligence in early cancer diagnosisldquoTheir large language model will one day act as a copilot for health workers treating highrisk pregnancies It can be used in both English and Telugu and the coolest part is that it automatically adjusts to the experience level of the person using itmdashwhether yoursquore a brandnew nurse or a midwife with decades of experiencerdquo the billionaire philanthropist saidOn a 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 uncomfortableldquoA new South African chatbot aims to make HIV risk assessment a lot easier It acts like an unbiased and nonjudgmental counsellor who can provide aroundtheclock advicerdquo said GatesldquoIf I had to make a prediction in highincome countries like the United States I would guess that we are 18 24 months away from significant levels of AI use by the general populationrdquo Gates addedldquoIn African countries I expect to see a comparable level of use in three years or so Thatrsquos still a gap but itrsquos much shorter than the lag times wersquove seen with other innovationsrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever