Bill Gates Warns the Younger Generation About Four Big Threats Shaping the Future

Bill Gates believes the next generation should be focusing on four major challenges as society moves forward.

In a conversation with Patrick Collison, the 69-year-old billionaire shared that while he only had one major concern growing up, today’s youth have much more to worry about.

Despite his wealth, Gates’ fears are centered on the future and the challenges younger generations will face.

“There’s, you know, about four or five things that are very scary, and the only one that I really understood and worried about a lot when I was young was nuclear war,” he said.

Nuclear war is still a possibility, but most people agree that it would be extremely harmful to everyone, no matter the reason behind it.

However, Gates believes that nuclear war is not the only significant concern anymore. He says there are at least three other major issues that people should worry about.

“Today, I think we’d add climate change, bioterrorism/pandemic, and keeping control of AI in some form. So, you know, now we have four footnotes. The younger generation has to be very afraid of those things.”

In a previous interview, the Microsoft co-founder said that artificial intelligence will bring big changes to society. While it might create challenges for some people, he also believes it has many benefits.

“We don’t have as many medical experts, you know, people who can stay on top of everything, or people who can do math tutoring in the inner city.

He continued, “And we have a shortage of intelligence, and so we use this market system to kind of allocate it. AI, over time – and people can argue about the time frames – will make intelligence essentially free.”

Despite his concerns about the future, Gates remains hopeful. He believes that even with the challenges ahead, the younger generation will ultimately have a better life overall.

“Absent not solving some of these big problems, things are going to be so much better off,” he said. “Alzheimer’s, obesity, you know, we’ll have a cure for HIV, we will have gotten rid of polio, measles, malaria. The pace of innovation is greater today than ever.”

Source: In Conversation with CHM on YouTube