Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Contributor/FilmMagic via Getty
Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.
ZDNET's key takeaways
Bill Gates acknowledges AI can impact coding jobs.
One developer built four products in four days with AI.
The coming tech job collapse could reshape the entire workforce.
In an article in the Economic Times that was reposted on MSN, Bill Gates is quoted as saying that AI can't replace programming, and never will. The only problem is that there is no evidence Bill ever said such a thing.
I, and the ZDNET editorial team, tried to source that quote. In doing so, we went down a series of rabbit holes, finding site after site cross-quoting other sites with the same basic message. We finally found one reference to a French podcast that Gates might have been on as a guest, although we were never able to find the podcast itself.
Because The Economic Times and MSN are both outlets with some credibility, all the other sites appear to have taken their Bill Gates quotes at face value. Yet the articles from these two outlets also mix in quotes from "elcabildo," which appears to be some sort of news aggregator. Unfortunately, it's not entirely clear which insights MSN is getting from Gates, and which are coming from elcabildo.
Also: How Bill Gates, the Altair 8800 and BASIC propelled me into the PC revolution
... continue reading