Best known for his roles at Tesla Motors and SpaceX multibillionaire Elon Musk would seem like one of the best supporters of artificial intelligence when you bear in mind his technological advanced businesses. However, it looks as though Elon Musk has made it his goal to warn the world of the dangers of artificial intelligence and the potentially catastrophic consequences.
Planning human demise
Elon Musk believes that artificial super intelligence could literally be the beginning of the end for the human race. The idea that robots can learn and adapt, like humans do, is not new but the idea that they could at some point end the human race is controversial. At this moment in time there is no sector attracting more investment than artificial intelligence and we are already starting to see great strides and enormous success in this area.
Google is just one of many companies which has invested billions of dollars into artificial intelligence and is already making use of this new technology. There are growing calls by many “experts” to regulate the artificial intelligence sector before it gets out of hand. So, is this controversial comment by Elon Musk simply a means to grab the headlines again or does he truly believe the human race is in danger?
Bill Gates
Over the last few weeks we have discussed Bill Gates views on robots, which are obviously a form of artificial intelligence, and the fact they will potentially replace millions of workers around the world. He believes that robots should be treated as quasi “humans” and pay taxes as a traditional worker would. While this comment itself attracted ridicule and controversy in equal measures if you sit back and think about it, is it really too far from the truth?
If companies around the world are able to replace their workforce with robots then what happens to tax income which human workers pay today? It is all good and well suggesting this is “technology at its best” but how does this allow governments to pay for public services and democracy?
Caution required
There are many public companies working on artificial intelligence and we can only imagine the secretive work currently being undertaken by governments around the world and wealthy individuals. Over the last 10 years we have seen major progress in artificial intelligence and while robots which will take into account any landscape grab the headlines, there is much more to this industry.
It is a little ironic that Elon Musk is attacking those in favour of artificial intelligence while at the same time suggesting his long-term goal with his SpaceX project is a colony on Mars. Whether tongue in cheek or serious, he suggested that his long-term goal to colonise Mars would help to save the human race when artificial intelligence becomes too advance.
A leap into the unknown
How did the experts in artificial intelligence reply to this comment by Elon Musk? By suggesting that artificial intelligence would simply follow the human race to its Mars colony. There is obviously some banter between those in favour of artificial intelligence and those against his growing technology. However, there is a real danger that ongoing developments in artificial intelligence could let the genie out of the bottle with no way of putting it back!