AUGUST 15, 2023
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who recently launched his podcast ‘Unconfuse Me with Bill Gates,’ engaged in an intriguing conversation with Sal Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, during one of his podcast episodes. Gates posed a light-hearted query, asking Sal Khan if he ever found himself mistaken for Bollywood actor Salman Khan.
“Given a web search for Sal Khan might yield this gentleman,” Gates remarked while displaying an image of actor Salman Khan, the veteran of Silicon Valley inquired: “Do you ever get confused with Salman Khan?” This prompted Sal Khan to chuckle before responding, “I do.” He further shared an amusing anecdote, revealing, “In the early days of Khan Academy, I received letters from some of his fans professing their affection and surprise that I possessed mathematical skills.”
On the second episode of ‘Unconfuse Me with Bill Gates,’ Sal Khan, the visionary behind the American non-profit educational organisation Khan Academy, made a guest appearance. Khan Academy pioneers online educational tools to assist students in their learning journeys.
Khan went on to recount an incident from 2015 when he visited India and found himself live on television alongside Salman Khan due to their shared names. However, he emphasised that despite the similarity in name, there is no Bollywood connection between them. Khan, however, playfully confessed his affinity for Bollywood movies, admitting that he watches them more than people might suspect, even managing to persuade his wife to join him in his cinematic indulgence.
“I watch more Bollywood movies than folks suspect,” Khan revealed.
During the same podcast, Gates also shared his astonishment at the capabilities of GPT-3 based AI, particularly GPT-3’s chatbot version known as ChatGPT. Gates remarked, “The most stunning demo I’ve ever seen in my life” regarding a demonstration of ChatGPT’s prowess in solving an AP Biology exam in August 2022.
Expressing optimism for the future, Gates envisioned AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google’s Bard assisting children in mastering reading and writing skills. Sal Khan concurred with Gates, revealing that Khan Academy is in the process of developing an experimental chatbot tutor named Khanmigo with precisely that goal in mind.
The inaugural episode of Gates’ podcast featured discussions with experts Lauren Miller Rogen and Seth Rogen. The episode centered on Alzheimer’s disease and was aired last month, setting the tone for the podcast’s enlightening and diverse range of topics.
