Does AI Have The Power To Enable 3-Day Work Weeks?

Date: November 24, 2023

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who has been at the forefront of leading innovations we use today, has developed another theory of using AI for 3-day work weeks

From common people to world leaders, Artificial Intelligence has been a central part of every conversation that involves innovation. Since the boom of AI in 2022, many companies have implemented AI’s capabilities to optimize workloads. This gave birth to the notion that AI will take away many jobs.

But, during an interview with renowned host Trevor Noah, Microsoft’s co-founder Bill Gates said that AI could potentially lead the dawn of a 3-day work week globally. He also clarified that AI will not be taking any jobs. Instead, it will fasten the process of evolution of jobs, bringing more responsibilities than mundane work into the hands of resources. All that humans need to do with regard to AI is to become good at working with it.

Appearing on the famous podcast show of Trevor Noah, What Now, Bill Gates cleared out many conservations about the risks and benefits of AI. During his 45-minute episode, Gates explained how the integration of AI in business processes can bring down the need for working days to just 3.

It will require adequate development backed by the government’s support. Stringent regulations must be in place before Generative AI is allowed to be used for commercial or personal use, as AI is powerful enough to break an entire country’s unity. Currently, an average individual in the IT industry works 40-48 hours a week. Out of these, more than 50% is covered by mundane tasks like paperwork, approvals, reports, etc. When AI can effectively become capable of fulfilling these responsibilities, human resources can be used for better purposes, which AI most probably won’t be able to accomplish.

Gates said, “If you eventually get a society where you only have to work 3 days a week, that’s probably OK.” A recent study conducted in the US and UK has revealed that by 2033, people could transition to a 4-day week with the help of AI. However, the risks associated with it leave a long road before the world reaches this stage.

Bill Gates took the example of his company’s products to explain how technology cannot replace the needs of humans in a business. The introduction of the MS Office suite potentially brought down the document creation process. But, it neither reduced the wages nor the number of jobs. Instead, the ones proficient in using these technologies are paid a higher wage as it brings additional benefits to the work desk.