Less than a month after Stephen Hawking raised concerns about artificial intelligence, another famous person warns us about this problem. This time, Elon Musk states that AI at some point may become a threat to human civilization.
Musk's opinion on AI
Musk made his announcement at the US National Governors' Association summer meeting in Rhode Island. “I have an impact on the development of artificial intelligence, and I think people should be very concerned about that,” said the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.
“This is not the first time I have said this, but so far people do not know how to react to the development of AI, because they still do not perceive it as a real threat. Probably, everyone will start to react somehow only after robots begin to appear on the street, killing people."
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It should be noted here that Musk is not talking about artificial intelligence, which we already use, for example, about Google Home. We are talking about general artificial intelligence, which is still just the idea of a superintelligent creature. However, it is quite possible that in the future this creature will become a reality.
Some scientists consider it the logical next step to be followed after the development of modern, more primitive AI systems. In 2015, dozens of scientists signed an open letter about the threat of artificial intelligence. Stephen Hawking also spoke on several occasions that AI could mean the end for humanity.
How real are these threats?
As Musk notes, it is difficult to take these threats seriously at this time. The idea of such a future, which was, for example, shown in the movie "I, Robot", or a dystopia similar to "The Matrix" seems a little far-fetched, when Siri can not even always call the right person. But in recent years, AI has been developing at an accelerated pace, so who knows what the future holds.
According to Musk, we must actively monitor the creation of artificial intelligence, and not wait until it will be necessary to respond to related emergencies.
By the time we start responding to potential AI issues, it will be too late. Artificial intelligence is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization.
Thus, we must be prepared for any problems that AI may present to us in the future. “Perhaps the biggest threat is massive population control through message targeting and propaganda bot armies,” said Frans Hallé, creator of The Verge, an artificial neural network.
Anna Pismenna