May 23 — According to Bill Gates, AI could kill search engines (and Amazon) as we know them. During a recent in-person event about artificial intelligence, Gates expressed that a future AI personal assistant will be so powerful that it could radically alter user behaviors. In other words, people may never visit a search engine or shop via a traditional online merchant again.

While it will be a stretch of time before this powerful digital technological infrastructure is ready for mainstream use, Gates believes that it will bring about transformative and lasting change.

The new AI assistant

This yet-to-be created AI tool will be able to pick up on peoples’ needs and habits, helping people sort through materials that they otherwise wouldn’t have time for and helping them accomplish tasks faster than they would be able to by nature.

Gates believes that there is a 50-50 chance that the developer of this exciting AI technology will either be a startup or a tech giant. “I’d be disappointed if Microsoft didn’t come in there,” said Gates. “But I’m impressed with a couple of startups, including Inflection,” he continued, referring to Inflection.AI, co-founded by former DeepMind executive, Mustafa Suleyman.

“Whoever wins the personal agent, that’s a big thing,” stated Gates.

AI solving challenges

In April, Gates commented on the call for a 6-month moratorium on the development of artificial intelligence, saying that a pause would not solve challenges.

The technologist-turned-philanthropist suggested that it would be of greater benefice to focus on how to best use the developments in AI.

Historically, Gates has been a bullish supporter of artificial intelligence. In his view, it could be as transformative as the internet or mobile phones. In a blog titled “The Age of AI has begun” he describes how he believes that AI should be implemented to reduce some of the world’s worst inequities.

For more about the future of artificial intelligence, please see CyberTalk.org’s past coverage. To receive more cutting-edge cyber security news, best practices and analyses, please sign up for the CyberTalk.org newsletter.