Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, presented his manifesto outlining how technology can change the world over the next decade. He highlighted three key issues that humanity faces today.
The first aspect Gates raises is the generosity of highly developed countries. He provided alarming statistics: in 2025, the number of child fatalities will increase for the first time in a hundred years—from 4.6 to 4.8 million. This is linked to a reduction in international aid. If healthcare funding drops by 20%, an additional 12 million children could die by 2045. Even the most generous countries allocate less than 1% of their GDP to international programs.
Gates also emphasizes the need to scale technologies to achieve equality. He identifies three key areas. In the climate sector, market mechanisms are ineffective without a global carbon tax, which is why his Breakthrough Energy fund intends to invest billions in innovations in aviation and industry. In medicine, algorithms are already assisting in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, potentially saving billions of dollars. The Gates Foundation has allocated $1.4 billion (about 110 billion rubles) to support farmers, where neural networks will provide more accurate forecasts of weather, prices, and crop diseases. In education, personalized learning based on machine learning is being tested in New Jersey, changing students' attitudes toward the learning process.
The billionaire also shared his thoughts on how to minimize the negative consequences of rapid technological advancement. He does not believe that technological development will plateau: algorithms and robots, in his view, will continue to surpass human capabilities without limits. Among the main threats in the coming years, he highlights bioterrorism and the collapse of the labor market, comparing the current situation to the COVID-19 pandemic: in his opinion, if the world had been better prepared, there would have been significantly less suffering. Today, the threat is even more serious—non-state groups can create biological weapons using readily available tools.
The issue of employment also concerns Gates. Thanks to neural networks, programmers are already working twice as fast, which reduces the cost of code development and, paradoxically, increases demand for it, similar to what happened earlier with computing. However, warehouse workers and call center operators may face mass displacement when algorithms reach the level of their tasks. This could happen within five years, and 2026 will be a time for developing wealth redistribution policies.
Despite his doubts, Gates remains optimistic, based on two qualities of humanity: the ability to foresee problems and care for one another. History is full of examples where people acted not only for their group or country but for the common good. These qualities, in his view, serve as a foundation of hope for continued progress in the future.
