AI Can Help Poorer Countries to Level Up, Says Bill Gates

It Can Provide Solutions in Areas Like Healthcare, Education and Agriculture

- Zhaki Abdullah

In poorer countries, where access to medical services is scarce, artificial intelligence (AI) tools can stand in as doctors in the future.

Such tools can even be added to lower-end phones to provide people their medical history and appropriate, up-to-date resources in their own language at low cost, said Gates Foundation chairman Bill Gates on May 6.

The Gates Foundation is one of the world's largest private philanthropic organizations, with US$69 billion (S$89 billion) in assets as at 2020.

Founded in 2000 by Mr. Gates and his former wife, Ms. Melinda French, the foundation supports initiatives in areas such as global health and education.

Mr. Gates was speaking at a fireside chat organized by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and held at Gardens by the Bay's Flower Field Hall.

"Access to a good doctor has been just a rich-country thing," said Mr. Gates, who is also the co-founder of software giant Microsoft.

AI can also help poorer countries to level up by providing solutions in areas such as education and mental health, he added.

In agriculture, he suggested using AI to advise farmers in these countries on how best to deal with the effects of climate change on their crops.