Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates predicts that, as AI advances, many people may opt to shun life in the technological landscape, much like the Amish.
His projection came just six days before Microsoft offered 60,000 employee buyouts, influenced by AI’s rise.
On Oct. 22, Gates sat down with Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of the tech news site The Verge and host of the podcast “Decoder with Nilay Patel.”
During their conversation about tech, artificial intelligence, and the future, Gates described AI as a “Pandora’s Box.”
“We’re going to have real choices,” he said. “We have had groups — not large groups, but like the Amish — that don’t live at the technology frontier.”
He predicted that “a lot of humanity may choose not to live at the technological frontier, because of things we get from helping each other or coming up with unique ideas.”
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That reasoning echoes the Amish themselves. The Anabaptist communities, while diverse, generally prioritize family, faith, and mutual aid, and view new technology with caution as a potential threat to those bonds.
Gates said he believes much of humanity may follow suit.
He argued this could be a partial measure, or perhaps a radical lifestyle reversal to avoid the rapid changes driven by technological progress.
Gates is particularly worried about the next 20-year “transition period” that he believes will create “winners and losers and a lot of disruption.”
Gates concluded the episode saying, “I hate being the bearer of concerning news on this, but it’s even worse not to tell people that this is coming, and we have choices as humans to make about how we shape it.”
The interview aired days before Microsoft, which Gates co-founded and whose board he left in 2020, announced one of the largest voluntary buyout offers in its history.
Amy Coleman, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, released a memo on Monday introducing a voluntary exit offer.
“The Voluntary Exit Offer reflects an important part of how we’re evolving our approach to change,” Coleman writes.
The offer, she said, gives certain employees “the opportunity to leave Microsoft with financial support and career planning resources.”
A spokesperson told Business Insider that the measure, intended to offset the costs of implementing AI infrastructure, could affect 60,000 eligible Microsoft workers, or about 27 percent of the 223,000-person workforce.
The spokesperson said each departing employee would receive Microsoft’s general severance package, anywhere from 60 days up to 39 weeks of base pay.
Microsoft hasn’t said how many roles it hopes to cut through the program, or whether layoffs could follow if too few employees accept.
This article originally appeared on The Western Journal and is reposted with permission.
