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He’s one of the world’s richest people, and he founded one of the biggest companies in the world in Microsoft, so when Bill Gates took to Reddit for an Ask Me Anything it was always going to be interesting.
The entrepreneur covered a range of topics, from Apple to virtual reality.
Here are the highlights.
I’m hard at work on my latest @reddit_AMA. Join me now: https://t.co/vbmpSKQMgM pic.twitter.com/Fd8G3yqDQQ
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) March 8, 2016
Gates posted this brilliant photo.
Gates said he thought a balance should be struck, “between government being able to know things in some cases and having safeguards to make sure those powers are confined to appropriate cases”.
Though he did also show some support for the US government’s position, asking “what if we had never had wiretapping?”, before adding that “very few people think giving the government carte blanche without safeguards makes sense.”
“I think robots that have vision and manipulation as good as humans is a huge milestone that will happen in the next decade and is being underestimated,” he said.
Gates towed the Microsoft party line somewhat, supporting current CEO Satya Nadella and the company for pursuing augmented reality – which is less immersive than VR.
“VR is the extreme case of AR when nothing from the real world gets mixed in.”
“It can be tricky if you are walking around that you might run into things. Systems that allow you to see the real world “seem better than pure VR”.
“The problem of how we prevent a small group of terrorists using nuclear or biological means to kill millions is something I worry about,” he said bluntly.
“If government does their best work they have a good chance of detecting it and stopping it but I don’t think it is getting enough attention and I know I can’t solve it.”
Gates said his current role at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation suited him much more than political office, but he did offer his support to former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who decided not to run for US president as an independent as it could split the Republican vote, handing the nomination to Donald Trump.
“I like my current job at the Foundation better than I would being president”
“Also I wouldn’t be good at doing what you need to do to get elected. I thought Michael Bloomberg was thoughtful about why it didn’t make sense for him to try and run even though he is a great executive.”
