Janice R. Andrews
An incredible 1984 interview with Bill Gates talking about the early ideas of artificial intelligence has turned up, offering an intriguing look into the forward-thinking mind of the Microsoft cofounder. The conversation, which took place on the tech-focused radio programme “The Famous Computer Cafe,” was discovered by web publisher and podcaster Kay Savetz, who has now converted the old cassettes to digital format.
“The interviews on these radio episodes provided a contemporary account of the dawn of the microcomputer revolution — not tainted by nostalgia,” Savetz stated to Business Insider. “They are a great piece of history now, a time capsule.” Savetz called the finding of these recordings, which were believed to be gone, a “little miracle” because of how well-preserved they were.
When Gates was only 29 years old, on November 17, 1984, he was interviewed. At the time, personal computers were still uncommon in American homes, and Microsoft was a small startup with less than 900 people. Just 8.2% of US homes, according to the US Census Bureau, owned a personal computer.
In the course of the interview, Gates shared his conviction that personal computers will soon proliferate. “I’m a believer that eventually we’ll have a machine on every desktop and a machine in every home,” he said. Gates stressed the significance of simplifying and improving the user experience of computers in order to realise this vision. He emphasised the importance of visuals in this endeavour, stating that for computers to be used by the general population, they had to show images, “attractive text,” and “documents that are representative of real life.”
But Gates’ remarks on a more sophisticated theory were what first alluded to the early notions of artificial intelligence. “Another thing that we’re trying to get the computer to do is learn,” Gates stated. “That is, after you’ve used it for a while, then you’ll be able to refer back to something you’ve done previously so you don’t have to repeat those commands.” He went on to say that the machine would help people with their tasks and be able to identify errors, just like a human colleague.
Gates called this idea “softer software,” calling it a “very tough piece of research” with the goal of improving computers’ intelligence and intuitiveness. In response to a question about whether this concept was comparable to artificial intelligence, Gates stated, “Yes, it is. However, that phrase has some baggage at the moment. When most people hear the word artificial intelligence, they picture robots and things that are sort of going to take over the world. “Softer software” describes the easy-to-implement actions that can be taken to help the computer understand and identify what you’re attempting to do.”
According to Gates, this early conception of AI set the foundation for the developments we see today. Microsoft has been aggressively incorporating AI into its software suite forty years after the interview. Even after resigning as CEO of the firm, Gates persists in his forecast that artificial intelligence (AI) would usher in a new era of global governance, with “AI agents,” or digital personal assistants, transforming human-computer interaction and possibly “upending the software industry.”
In the most extreme scenario, Gates stated in the 1984 interview, “we will have reached a human level of intelligence once software gets 100% soft.” It’s quite a far away.
This recently unearthed interview demonstrates Bill Gates’ vision and ongoing effect on the field of artificial intelligence, while also providing insight into the early days of the personal computer revolution. The concepts covered in that 1984 interview are still relevant and thought-provoking today as technology develops further.
