Artificial intelligence, or AI, will eventually help us drive cars, take a trip to Mars and look after our children. Others, however, fear that this development in technology could actually tap into something a lot more evil.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX and one of the early investors in PayPal, spoke last week at MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Department’s 2014 Centennial Symposium, which is just starting to now make the rounds on the Internet, says artificial intelligence is akin to “summoning the demon” and he is terrified of this malicious prospect.
“With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon. You know all those stories where there’s the guy with the pentagram and the holy water and he’s like… yeah, he’s sure he can control the demon, [but] it doesn’t work out,” said Musk, who is a chief proponent of smart cars that can drive themselves. “I’m increasingly inclined to think there should be some regulatory oversight, maybe at the national and international level just to make sure that we don’t do something very foolish.”
Musk added that the general public is unaware just how fast artificial intelligence is developing and evolving. He argued that its “utility function” will not bode well for humanity and could serve as a bad effect for the general population.
Whether or not the future is similar to “The Terminator,” “I, Robot” or “Total Recall” remains to be seen.
This isn’t the first time that Musk has uttered such remarks. In June, Musk told CNBC that he invests in companies that develop AI because he likes to keep a proper eye on this technology, while also purporting that the enhancement in AI could generate “some scary outcomes.” In August, he wrote in a tweet that AI could potentially be a lot more dangerous than nuclear weapons. This month, he also sardonically said that AI could be used to eliminate spam, but it could determine the best way to eradicate this annoying trend is to eviscerate humans.
Worth reading Superintelligence by Bostrom. We need to be super careful with AI. Potentially more dangerous than nukes.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 3, 2014
Ford taking on Tesla?
Musk’s comments come as Ford CEO Mark Fields recently stated that the company could develop a Tesla-like full-size, high-tech, long-range electric vehicle.
The company head noted that it recently acquired a Tesla Model S and explained that it drove the car, took it apart, put it back together and drove it again.
Although Ford does sell an electric vehicle in its Focus, the automaker wants to have something a lot more enhanced than the Focus to fit in its current suite of vehicles. However, Ford does not have any plans of essentially copying Tesla, though the ladder does have its patents open to the public so competitors can quickly develop electric cars.
Numerous companies have produced their own electric and plug-in vehicles, but it has become an expensive endeavor for a lot of manufacturers. For instance, Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has been urging customers to refrain from buying its electric cars because it loses approximately $10,000 for every automobile sold.
The current trend for automakers is to reduce the price-tag, but Tesla Motors has stayed the course and is selling its models for as much as $110,000.