Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates says AI could end most human labor

Bill Gates, who co-founded Microsoft and used to run it, said AI could make most human labor unnecessary within about 20 years. He said so on the podcast Decoder, in an episode posted Thursday.

This touches anyone who works for a living. Gates thinks the first jobs to go are office roles, and later the physical ones. That could affect your paycheck, your kids' career choices and what work even looks like.

Gates said AI is getting past the point where good white-collar skills are scarce. He named telesales, phone support and accounting work as jobs AI can do cheaper, faster and more accurately. Later, he said, robots with hands and fingers could build houses, grow food and do surgery. He picked 20 years as a reasonably safe number and said he could be wrong. Then he said this at 41:49.

"My big concern is this 20-year transition period where you'll have winners and losers and a lot of disruption"

The News International covered the interview on Sunday. Its headline reads "Bill Gates warns how AI could reshape power and the future of work on 'The Verge's Decoder' podcast." It reports that Gates sees big changes to jobs and to the balance of power across industries and society.

Gates said society may choose to keep some jobs for humans, like child care, food preparation, art and sports. He called that a policy question. He also said it is not guaranteed people stay in control of the AI. Microsoft, which he co-founded, sells AI tools.

Watch the 9 minutes where he lays out the 20 years.34:49