Not even Sam Altman has shown himself regularly so optimistic in everything that concerns AI as Bill Gates has done. Unlike what happens with a lot of experts, who talk about massive unemployment or even of the human extinctionthe founder of Microsoft has a cheerful vision. He even talks about You will only need to work two days a week.
It is true that this is not the first time that Gates has followed the same line. I have been talking about shorter working hours for some time now, thanks to advances in technology. But he is becoming more and more emphatic about it. In his thinking, more and more people will only have to go to the office as a token, if this continues. The question is: will something like this really happen?
Bill Gates and the ephemeral work weeks
In reality, Bill Gates is not the only one who talks about the subject, and everything has its logic. If unemployment often becomes a problem in many places in the world, what will happen if AI automates everything even more? Well, getting a job would surely become a challenge for the vast majority of people. Now, this can be seen in two different ways, of course.
That of Bill Gates, as well as that of Sam Altman or Elon Musk himself, would be the «good» one. Since AI will lead to much less work, people will be able to have much more free time for themselves, pursue their creative projects or pursue their hobbies. On paper, it sounds extraordinary but what are you going to eat then?
According to Elon Musk, the solution would have to involve some type of subsidy: The machines work, the people get paid and everyone is happy. But it doesn’t take a genius to realize that probably nothing could be that simple. Even without being as pessimistic as some specialists are, who already talk about the enormous class difference that AI will bring with it.
Bill Gates has not specifically referred to how to solve this problem, as if he somehow assumed that working less would not have to have a payroll deduction at the end of each month. It would be a kind of natural evolution. A vision that is too naive, or does the businessman know something that escapes the rest of us mortals?
Would a leisure society be a good idea?
According to Bill Gates himself, «AI will take care of almost everything,» as reported by specialized media. However, there are many philosophers and experts who warn that work brings dignity, and that an idle society would aggravate the numbers of depression, addictions and mental health crises to the unimaginable. For many, it would be losing a stimulus and even a reason to live.
Whatever happens, the reality is that Bill Gates has been advocating for a reduction in the work week for a long time. But in practice, people continue to work the same hours. Furthermore, there is another contradiction: when I was at Microsoft, I demanded exactly the opposite, full dedication. Could it be that things look different from the outside?