Can AI Control Humans? Elon Musk’s Alarming Warning

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The CEO of Tesla as well as the former CEO of Twitter has been quite vocal with respect to the development of AI. At a recent summit in London, the business expert warns about the risks of AI. According to Elon Musk, tech generally has the potential to control humans. Thus, we have to be careful how far we chose to progress with AI. In specific terms, Elon Musk claims that AI may be able to control humans in the future. Though it will probably not destroy the world, but it is a possibility and the world should not just ignore it. Musk also claimed that it is also possible for AI to take over  “all human security,” thus making itself a sort of “super nanny.”

Elon Musk said

“Advanced artificial intelligence runs the risk of eliminating or limiting human development. Superintelligence is a ‘double-edged sword’. If you have a genie that can empower you with anything, that’s a danger,”

Some of Elon Musk’s firms are currently working on AI but he has always been wary of the tech. Back in March, he signed an open letter calling for a moratorium on the development of advanced AI. At the moment, Tesla, Elon Musk’s major company uses a lot of AI in its products. In fact, after Microsoft / OpenAI link as well as Google / DeepMind deal, it should be third.

Elon Musk adds

“I think there should be a third company competing. OpenAI and Microsoft seem to be doing pretty well together, so X.AI (Musk’s new AI company) and Twitter and Tesla should also have in the future”.

Eric Schmidt also issues a similar warning

Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt is also wary of deep AI development. He claims that the consequences of developing rogue AI could be severe to humanity.

According to Schmidt, as AI develops over the next few years, it poses an “existential risk” to humanity and has the potential to cause “many, many, many, many people harmed or killed.”

Speaking at the Council Summit of Wall Street Journal CEO, Schmidt said

“There are scenarios, not today, but reasonably soon, where these systems will be able to find zero-day exploits in cyber issues or discover new kinds of biology … Now, this is fiction today, but its reasoning is likely to be true … And when that happens, we want to be ready to know how to make sure these things are not misused by evil people.”

AI is more complex than we know

Schmidt has also stated that AI systems are becoming more complicated than people can fully comprehend, and companies continue to introduce new products without understanding the full extent of the threats from AI. He believes that this could pose a challenge in itself and has warned that we need to be cautious when introducing new products.

Schmidt is not the only technology figure to warn of the risks of AI. Others include Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who has admitted to being scared of AI, and Elon Musk, who has signed an open letter calling for a six-month pause in AI research. The letter warns of “potentially catastrophic effects” on society if appropriate governance is not put in place.

Schmidt has also expressed concerns about China’s use of AI, particularly in its military, arguing that the US needs to redesign its military to respond to the threat.

Final Words

Eric Schmidt has warned that AI poses an existential risk to humanity and that governments need to know how to ensure it is not misused. He has expressed concerns about the speed of research in this field and the potential for such systems to become more complex than people can fully comprehend. Schmidt does not support a pause in its development, as he believes it would benefit other countries, particularly China.