For centuries, people with money and power have had access to the experts in most fields — they can call up, say the top economist, or the top doctor, and receive their advice and inputs one-on-one. But AI might have democratized this previously privileged access.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates says that AI is now able to give answers at the same level as the experts he used to consult on various issues. “If you get to very profound levels (with AI), you almost get to philosophical questions,” he said in an interview with Fareed Zakaria. “The ability to use these tools is both fun and empowering. I used to have an advantage that I have very smart people whom I can call up when I get confused about physics, but now I actually use deep research,” he said.
“And then I’ll send that answer to my smart friends and say, ‘hey, did it get it right?’ And most of the time they’re like, “oh yeah, you didn’t need me”. And so you can really learn so much. Embracing this and tracking it will be very, very important,” he added.
Gates makes a good point. Technology had already democratized access to raw information — the search engine that Bill Gates uses is likely the same as the search engine a young kid from Africa uses. It’s likely that the phone Bill Gates uses is very similar to the phone that billions of people around the world use. But where money and influence helped thus far was that it allowed access to expertise which couldn’t always be found on the internet — Bill Gates could, for instance, call up literally anyone in the world and they’d be more than happy to give him half an hour of their time.
But like Gates says, AI has changed all that. He says that the depth of answers he receives through Deep Research AI searches are roughly of the same level as those he receives from this experts. ChatGPT and Google’s Deep Research modes take longer than the usual AI queries, but can come up with extremely detailed answers, and cite references and sources. This is akin to having the world’s best experts — in virtually all fields — at your fingertips. Granted, these queries are currently included in the paid plans of these platforms, but it seems pretty clear that expertise in any field will soon be universally available to all. And this has the potential to change the world in more ways than we can predict.