Bill Gates Tasked The New Generation To Fix Misinformation

Fake news, misinformation, false leads and incomplete data are just some of the things that we encounter everyday from social media outlets. However, present tech giants won't be doing much about this for now, at least that's what the impression Bill Gates conveyed in his latest public interview.

"Misinformation is the one where I — a little bit — had to punt and say, 'Okay, we've handed this problem to the younger generation,'" Gates, 68, said during an interview with CNBC published last 5 September.

Misinformation has been a concern almost since the advent of the internet. There was a global reckoning around the issue after the 2016 US election. But the problem has only intensified as technology advances. False claims on social media are now harder than ever to spot, thanks in part to artificial intelligence.

A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that 65 percent of American adults believe tech companies should do more to restrict false information and violent content online.

However, Gates, one of the most influential tech entrepreneurs of all time, said he doesn't have the answer.

"We should have free speech," he told CNBC. "But if you're inciting violence, if you're causing people not to take vaccines, where are those boundaries?"

He added: "Even the US should have rules, and then if you have rules, what is it? Is there some AI that encodes those rules? You have billions in activity, and if you catch it a day later, the harm is done."

Gates' experience with misinformation is personal. He was the subject of several prominent conspiracy theories related to vaccines and other intervention measures during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

One conspiracy theory that gained attention during the pandemic claimed Gates put microchips in vaccines to track people.

Gates told CNET that a woman once confronted him about that conspiracy theory on the street.

"I really don't need to track you in particular," he said he told the woman.

It has also affected his youngest daughter, Phoebe, who spoke out against "misconceptions and conspiracy theories" during an interview with The Information last March.