Bill Gates urges richer nations to pair aid with artificial intelligence to fight inequality

Bill Gates urged the world's wealthiest nations to combine their increased financial aid with the strategic application of artificial intelligence (AI) during his foundation's Goalkeepers gathering. Speaking alongside political commentator Van Jones, Gates emphasized the importance of "smart use of AI" to accelerate the fight against inequality.

Gates highlighted the failure of previous efforts to incorporate proper human values and moral guidelines when developing AI technology. At a Monday conversation held at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, the foundation's chair stressed that AI should be employed for "lifesaving innovations."

The annual event, usually held during the United Nations' high-level meetings, began with a reminder that 26 out of the world's 34 wealthiest nations reduced development aid to poorer countries last year. The U.N. has also pointed out that progress towards its sustainable development goals is "slow and uneven."

Despite these challenges, Gates highlighted numerous examples of remarkable AI innovations already in place, such as those used by educators, farmers, and health workers to identify learning gaps, combat pest infestations, and improve patient medical records. The foundation spent a significant portion of the two-hour event showcasing these advancements.

In addition, the Gates Foundation unveiled a new coalition comprising Anthropic, Google, OpenAI Foundation, and numerous other organizations. With 60 partners in total, the coalition aims to make AI more accessible in underrepresented languages. These partners include frontier AI labs, corporations, philanthropies, and others already working to expand the number of languages available in AI tools, believing that this could combat global inequality.

Foundation CEO Mark Suzman underscored the need for this work to continue "full speed ahead," even as some of the largest AI companies advocate for slower development of advanced models. Suzman called upon governments to regulate AI's impact on cybersecurity and children's development while simultaneously extending AI's humanitarian applications to impoverished communities currently excluded from the technology.