Elon Musk has been sounding the alarm about the dangers of artificial intelligence for years. In a recent interview at the World Government Summit in Dubai, Musk said advanced AI could potentially be an “existential threat” to humanity.
“The biggest issue I see with so-called artificial general intelligence is that people are going to entrust their security and safety to machines that are not as intelligent as they think they are,” Musk said. “AI is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization.”
Musk has long warned about the catastrophic dangers associated with advanced AI if it outpaces human capabilities. His warnings are grounded in the idea that superintelligent machines could become so powerful that humans would not be able to control them.
Despite his concerns, Musk said we should still pursue the development of AI, but do so cautiously and with proper safeguards and oversight in place. “I’m not suggesting that we should race pell-mell into AI, but I am suggesting that we should be aware of the dangers and think about how we can ensure that the future unfolds in a good way,” he said.
Musk suggested that regulation may be needed to monitor companies and organizations developing advanced AI to ensure proper safety precautions are followed. “It’s not like I think that government regulation is great in every scenario, but I do think that AI is a sufficiently dangerous technology that government regulation is warranted,” he said.
Some experts argue that Musk’s warnings about superintelligent machines running amok are overblown and that we have a long way to go before achieving human-level AI, let alone the superintelligence that keeps Musk up at night. But Musk believes that if we’re not careful, advanced AI could emerge quickly and catch us by surprise.
“Typically, by the time something is obviously a problem, it’s very hard to put the genie back in the bottle. So if there’s even a small chance of something like that happening, I think we should be quite careful about artificial general intelligence,” Musk said. “There’s really no upside to taking unnecessary risk in this department.”
Musk said the chance of AI posing an existential threat to humanity in the next century is “not negligible” – he estimated the odds at about 20 percent. “We should try to make sure the outcomes are good, not bad,” he said. The future remains uncertain, but Musk’s warnings serve as a reminder that we must consider both the exciting possibilities and potential perils of rapidly advancing technology. With open discussion and proactive safeguards put in place, we can help ensure the responsible development of AI.