Billionaire Bill Gates and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently took questions from an AI chatbot at the Imperial College of London, where they discussed a variety of topics, including Gates’ recent statement that killing one type of insect could save 400,000 lives each year. The insect in question is the mosquito, which is responsible for spreading diseases such as malaria and dengue fever to humans around the world.
Gates noted that while there are many solutions available to combat these illnesses – such as bed nets and vaccines – eliminating mosquitoes would be more effective in reducing deaths caused by these diseases. He also explained how this could be achieved through gene editing technology or releasing sterile male insects into affected areas to reduce their population size naturally over time.
Sunak praised Gates’ proposal but added that it was important for governments across the globe to come together with private companies like Microsoft to make sure any solution implemented was safe and successful on a global scale before implementation begins on a large scale basis. At present, there are no plans yet put forward by either party regarding how they plan on tackling this issue however both men agreed it should remain a high priority due to its potential life-saving implications if done correctly.
Read more at Benzinga