What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates · Episode 1
What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates, What Can AI Do for Us/to Us: what the evidence says about artificial intelligence
What the episode covers, where artificial intelligence stands on the 311 Starburst and what leaders should take from it.
What it covers
About the episode
The opening episode looks at what AI could do for people, and to them, with contributions from people who build it.
- Broadcaster
- Netflix
- Made by
- Tremolo Productions
- Episode
- Series 1, episode 1
What the evidence says
Where artificial intelligence stands in 2026
The 311 Starburst maps when each emerging technology and trend is expected to reach wide use. These are the entries that match this subject, with their status today.
- Technology · IntelligenceLarge Language Models
Large language models are AI programs trained on huge amounts of text. They can write, answer questions and translate, and they power chatbots such as Claude.
- Expected wide use
- 2024
- Status in 2026
- Act now
- Readiness
- TRL 9 of 9
- Technology · IntelligenceAgentic Artificial Intelligence
Agentic AI describes AI systems that can decide and act on their own to reach a goal. They change what they do as they go and need little human help.
- Expected wide use
- 2028
- Status in 2026
- Prepare
- Readiness
- TRL 8 of 9
- Technology · IntelligenceArtificial General Intelligence
Artificial general intelligence is a machine that could do any thinking task a person can. It does not exist yet, and experts disagree on when it might.
- Expected wide use
- 2033
- Status in 2026
- Explore
- Readiness
- TRL 3 of 9
- Trend · TechnologicalArtificial Intelligence
- Expected wide use
- 2024
- Status in 2026
- Act now
- Trend · Workforce TrendsCognitive Automation
- Expected wide use
- 2026
- Status in 2026
- Act now
- Trend · SocietalJob Automation
- Expected wide use
- 2027
- Status in 2026
- Act now
Source: the 311 Starburst, researched by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit (data built 2026-10-28). Status rings: Act now means wide use by 2027, Prepare 2028 to 2030, Explore 2031 to 2035, Watch 2036 or later. Explore the Starburst Centre.
311 analysis
What leaders should take from it
- AI is an Act now trend: every leadership team needs a plan for it this year, not a pilot list.
- Cognitive automation reaches professional work first; map which tasks in your teams change first.
- Decide what you will not automate, and say so; trust is part of the business case.
Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit.
Next steps
Take this subject to your leadership team
A private briefing turns what is on screen into decisions for your organisation, in person first, anywhere in the world.
Answers
Common questions
What does the Bill Gates Netflix series say about AI?
The first episode weighs the benefits and the risks of AI. The 311 Starburst places artificial intelligence and job automation in its Act now ring and agentic AI in Prepare.
More episodes
Other episodes of What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates
Read more: The State of AI · Future of Work: One Person, 10,000 Hands