Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently talked about how artificial intelligence could fight climate change on his podcast, Unconfuse Me With Bill Gates, and it was the kind of bemused conversation you'd expect from the man who promotes meat himself of synthetic beef, depopulation, preventing cows from belching and experimental geoengineering. He made his latest statements in an interview with data scientist Hannah Ritchie. As his conversation turned to artificial intelligence and its potential utility in addressing environmental issues, he shared his amazement at how quickly technology has advanced.
“I was really surprised how the AIs went from not being able to read or write at all to doing it very easily,” he told her.
Asked if he thought AI could play a role in acting on climate, he said: “Absolutely.” He then cited the example of genetically modifying cattle with AI to produce less methane, or using AI to somehow produce “meat without the cow.”
Ritchie noted that people don't buy into the idea of ​​meat alternatives, and that's something Gates knows too, having invested in several companies that produce fake meats, including Impossible Foods, Upside Foods and Beyond Meat.