{"id":958959,"date":"2026-01-02T15:55:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T15:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/SYYjRFZjAah7HMQEntUYBE"},"modified":"2026-01-02T15:55:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T15:55:14","slug":"people-can-type-misinformation-into-a-word-processor-bill-gates-hand-waves-the-problem-of-ai-fakery-and-focuses-on-the-positives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/people-can-type-misinformation-into-a-word-processor-bill-gates-hand-waves-the-problem-of-ai-fakery-and-focuses-on-the-positives\/","title":{"rendered":"‘People can type misinformation into a word processor’: Bill Gates hand-waves the problem of AI fakery and focuses on the positives"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As we venture forth boldly and perhaps blindly into what Jen-Hsun Huang calls<\/a> “a new industrial revolution” of AI technology, there's no shortage of voices on both the techno-optimistic and techno-pessimistic sides of the debate. However, we can all probably agree that what we don't need is hand-waving, which unfortunately looks like Bill Gates' approach to certain problems that AI poses.<\/p>\n

When asked by The Verge<\/a> about generative AI misinformation and the climate, Gates said, “I think AI, on balance, is super beneficial to work on climate. People can type misinformation into a word processor. They don\u2019t need AI, you know, to type out crazy things.<\/p>\n

“And so I\u2019m not sure that, other than creating deepfakes, AI really changes the balance there. In fact, I\u2019d say that as people talk about reducing misinformation, the role of AI can be a positive role in terms of looking at what\u2019s going on in a superefficient way.”<\/p>\n

This is in the context of an interview pertaining to Gates' upcoming futurist Netflix series, “What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I wouldn't expect Gates to channel Heideggerian techno-pessimism given this context, and there's certainly a benefit to keeping things positive, but the word processor comparison? Come on. AI videos and audio are the main problem, and it's a problem that Gates seems willing to hand-wave with a brief “other than creating deepfakes” remark.<\/p>\n

To be fair to Gates, he was asked how he would feel “if generative AI tools that Microsoft has worked on have a significant impact on disinformation”, and so I suppose he might have had only generative text in mind. But to be equally fair, Microsoft does have a foot in more than just generative text. VASA-1<\/a>, for instance, is the company's foray into talking-face video generation.<\/p>\n

Let's spell things out more clearly for Gates and the others at the back. The problem\u2014or at least one problem\u2014is how quick and easy AI is making the creation of very convincing misinformation such as deepfakes of politicians or other important figures. These capabilities can in no way be compared to someone typing away some made-up trash in a word processor and publishing it online.<\/p>\n

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