money Davos 2024: Bill Gates, top leaders weigh in on the AI Debate
The theme of the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland is “Rebuilding Trust.” This comes amid escalating geopolitical tensions and rapid technological advancements. The biggest advancement in tech and the word most heard around Davos: AI.
In 2023, artificial intelligence began to have an impact on every business and even every individual. From jobs to skills, and regulations and governance, AI came up in every conversation. AI is a driving force at the World Economic Forum this year. Top leaders have not shied away from weighing in on the AI debate. Yahoo Finance had the chance to speak to Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates, Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman and Harvard University Chair of International Economics all about the AI progression.
It's all part of Yahoo Finance's exclusive coverage from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where our team will speak to top decision-makers as well as preeminent leaders in business, finance, and politics about the world’s most pressing issues and priorities for the coming year.
Video Transcript
- Are you concerned about the pace that AI is moving in terms of innovation?
BILL GATES: Um, there's a lot of things in terms of making it cheaper, faster, more accurate. Most of the applications are just helping you be more productive. When I sit down to write something, often getting hints from the AI, having it look things over, simplify things. It, I've found it's a real productivity increase. So mostly what we'll see is that the productivity of white collar will go up.
ADENA FRIEDMAN: I do think that AI driven companies, AI enabled companies, and AI companies themselves, those companies that can really help transform business. I think that those are the types of companies you'll see more and more of coming out to the public markets. Very exciting time, I have to say, because every company can benefit from this next generation of technology. I think you can look at every industry and Gen AI has applicability. So companies that help unlock that potential are going to be, I think, that companies that a lot of investors are looking for.
KENNETH ROGOFF: I don't know if our society is ready for it. And there are so many different ways. One is, probably lots of jobs are going to be lost at a very fast pace. There are questions like how it affects warfare, how it affects cyber warfare, how it affects things like social media, and what we see in the elections. So it's a wild card in a lot of things.
