Bill Gates on AI's limitations: ‘Can’t even solve a Sudoku puzzle so not good…'

Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates who has been one of the leading advocates of Artificial Intelligence (AI) said that it has some limitations as well which everyone should be aware of. In an interview with Dax Shepard on the Armchair Expert podcast, Bill Gates said that he is experiencing both the strengths and weaknesses of AI firsthand. He said, "I'm using it all the time and saying, 'Okay, no, it's not good enough for this — but wow, it is good enough for that.'"

But he said that he is less impressed by AI's Sudoku abilities and is still trying to figure out how to integrate the tools into his own work process.

Read more: Jefferies bets on these 11 stocks for the next five years: SBI, Zomato and…

"If it's a problem that humans are not good at dealing with, then present techniques don't create some novel approach," Bill Gates said.

The key is to have “data that embodies the expertise”, he added.

He explained, "I actually think in mental counseling AIs will play a role, but boy, we're going to have to be very careful about that. That's going to require a lot of work that has not been done yet."

Read more: Narayana Murthy gifts four-month-old grandson shares worth ₹240 crore in Infosys

Bill Gates also said that current AI models are not good at complex math. He said, "It doesn't know to check its answers. A Sudoku puzzle, you have to do a lot of recursive reasoning and it doesn't know to take extra time."

Read more: Ashneer Grover calls himself ‘a diligent taxpayer’: ‘My dad kept me honest as…’

Bill Gates added that the AI says it "mistyped" rather than admit it was wrong. He said, “It's so apologetic, and it says it'll try again, but of course it gets it wrong again.”

But these limitations are not the reason to stop using AI, he said, asserting, “Maybe we'll have a world where parts of the world have chosen to use AI in full, and other people are more like, 'Get your buggy out, baby.”