Microsoft Bob Personal Assistant is likely to be rolled back

In Monday, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates answered various questions about the Gates Foundation at the Microsoft Research Summit (MSR Faculty Summit), and revealed that Microsoft Bob's personal assistant is likely to be rolled back.

Gates spent decades pushing Microsoft's software into the world. Although he still serves as chairman of Microsoft, he has focused on the Gates Foundation since 2008, hoping to find a solution to the toughest problems in the world today.

Here's what Mr. Gates talked about at the summit:

Education

The Gates Foundation is investing in education, even in rich countries such as the United States. He was very supportive of the large-scale network public class (massive open online courses) project and supported the project. Similar projects, such as Khan Academy, can provide personalized and high-quality teaching courses to help solve the global education crisis. The United States is concerned because it has the highest drop-out rates in the rich world.

He also explores how educational institutions can adapt to this trend. Gates believes that just putting a camera in front of the speaker is not enough to satisfy demand, and the online public class is more like the record industry, with speakers who are very good at teaching specific information, and enough budgets to edit and produce richer experiences for students.

"If I want to learn about oceanography, meteorology, game theory, or kink theory, I can learn more about it within 24 hours, and then test my knowledge level." There is a lot of room for innovation in this area. "This is just the beginning, and it will have far-reaching implications in the future," he said. But it does have a lot of appeal to be able to simplify the model. ”

Gates argues that education should not be treated like a menu without restrictions. He said his daughter had been to universities where students were allowed to design their own majors without any required courses. "I think there are one or two courses that should be thoroughly understood." "he joked.

Wearable calculation

Asked what role wearable computing would play in education, Gates mused for a moment and said, "I guess it will help you cheat." I think it's cool to wear, but I don't see how much it's connected to education. ”

Gates launched Microsoft Bob at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 1995. The service provides a virtual house with many rooms and doors, as well as cartoon character assistants to help users use Windows and perform various tasks with Microsoft applications.

Gates told the site's researchers that Microsoft Bob had not developed well, but he thought the idea could be reborn in a more complex way. "Like most of our mistakes, we're just a little ahead. "he said. Now, however, Microsoft has lagged behind because the company's Sir and Google today have been able to provide personal assistance services by understanding the user's behavior and needs.

Patent

When it comes to open source and proprietary software, Gates says, business software pays for a lot of people, people have jobs, and free software allows people to make some old-spirit stuff. Each has its pros and cons.

But Gates thanked the patent law for the protection of pharmaceutical and agricultural companies that allowed them to create and sell products and recruit researchers. "It is the work of these people that gives us the knowledge to help poor farmers," he said. He added that the Gates Foundation had found no patent-related issues, saying: "In the poor countries where we work, no one applies or enforces patents." ”

The biggest problem facing mankind

Someone asked Gates at the summit what he thought was the most important issue facing mankind today. "The most important thing we want to avoid is biological and nuclear terrorism," he replied. Fortunately, this large-scale risk has been minimized in the national war. ”

One important aspect of solving these problems is the use of technology, just as the U.S. National Security Service (NSA) has been widely questioned. "Just a few scientists can create something that kills billions of of people," Gates said. We need to stop this from happening by monitoring the system and using the right information in advance in a way that can be relied upon. ”

Gates also mentions casualties in the Syrian civil war, but says many people may not be aware that millions of children die every year from preventable diseases. When the Gates Foundation was founded in 2000, the number of children who died each year reached 12 million, but thanks to the new vaccine, the figure had fallen to 7 million. "The world will work together in the next 15 years," he said. If the method is right, we can drop the number below 3 million. I was born up to 20 million a year. ”

The Gates Foundation is also studying the effects of malnutrition and disease in poor countries, where 40% of children's brains are underdeveloped and unable to contribute to society through education. "In sub-Saharan Africa, people have an average IQ of only 82, which has nothing to do with genetics or race, but disease." ”

Gates said the Gates Foundation has now saved 10 million of lives, and his goal is to save 50 million lives in the next decade.