Bill Gates says AI can help solve worker shortages in 2 surprising professions

[Chip (OP)]

https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-ai-job-shortages-doctors-teachers-work-free-time-2025-4

Apr 16, 2025, 3:47 PM GMT+10

● Bill Gates said AI could solve shortages in two key professions: teaching and medicine.

■ The billionaire said AI would help plug labor gaps, even in blue-collar roles.

◇ He also said AI could make early retirement or shorter workweeks possible.

Bill Gates said the long-standing shortage of doctors and teachers might soon be over because AI would fill the gap.

"AI will come in and provide medical IQ, and there won't be a shortage," he said on an episode of the "People by WTF" podcast published Friday.

Long focused on public health, Gates noted that countries such as India and those in Africa continue to face a shortage of medical professionals.

The US also has this issue. A report from the Association of American Medical Colleges last year projected that the US would face a physician shortage of up to 86,000 specialists and primary care doctors by 2036.

"The country needs hundreds of thousands of doctors to provide an equal amount of care to everyone, including minorities, those without medical insurance, and people living in rural areas," Michael Dill, the organization's director of workforce studies, told Business Insider last year.

The number of doctors who specialize in geriatric care is also dwindling, even as populations age. Medical professionals told BI in March that the influx of older patients could lead to a quality-of-care crisis.

To ease burnout in the industry, healthcare-focused AI startups have raised billions by pitching themselves as the fix. Startups including Suki, Zephyr AI, and Tennr say they can lighten workload by automating repetitive tasks such as billing and note-taking, improving diagnosis accuracy, and identifying patients for emerging treatments.

The consulting firm McKinsey estimates that generative AI could boost productivity in healthcare and pharma by up to $370 billion.

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