Gates thinks that the yet-to-be developed AI assistant will understand a person's needs and habits and help them "read the stuff you don't have time to read," Gates said.

Gates said there is a 50-50 chance that this future AI winner will be either a startup or a tech giant.

"I'd be disappointed if Microsoft didn't come in there. But I'm impressed with a couple of startups, including Inflection."

Inflection.AI is an outfit co-founded by former DeepMind executive Mustafa Suleyman.

Gates said that it would take some time until this powerful future digital agent is ready for mainstream use, Gates said.

Until then, companies will continue embedding generative AI technologies akin to OpenAI's popular ChatGPT into their products.

He also likened the rise of generative AI technologies that can produce compelling text as a game-changer that will affect white-collar workers. Gates added that he believes that future humanoid robots that are cheaper for companies to use than human employees will significantly impact blue-collar workers, too. "