Billionaire burn: Musk says Zuckerberg’s understanding of AI threat ‘is limited’ – Washington Post

Its rare if not unheard of to hear someone question Mark Zuckerbergs comprehension skills.

The Facebook chief executive and social media icon is frequently lauded for his critical thinking and global vision, qualities that have helped him maintain his reign atop one of the worlds most successful companies.

Yet on Tuesday, Tesla chief executive and fellow billionaire Elon Musk said in a tweet that Zuckerbergs understanding of the threat posted by artificial intelligence is limited.

Ouch.

In Silicon Valley, at least, thems tech titan fightin words.

[Elon Musk doesnt think were prepared to face humanitys biggest threat: Artificial intelligence]

Musks tweet was a response to a Facebook live broadcast that Zuckerbergdid during a backyard grilling session Sunday in which he was asked about Musks strident warnings surroundingAI. Without mentioning Musk by name, Zuckerberg called such warnings really negative and pretty irresponsible.

As he waited for his wood-burning stove to finish slow-cooking a brisket, Zuckerberg fielded a variety of questions, including on economic opportunity and thefuture of AI.

I think that people who are naysayers and try to drum up these doomsday scenarios. I dont understand it. Its really negative, and, in some ways, I actually think its pretty irresponsible, said Zuckerberg, who also argued that people can build things and the world gets better.

Zuckerberg pointed out some of the ways in which he believes AI can save human lives, such as helping to enhance the safety of self-driving cars and to diagnose medical conditions. He argued that technology can be used for good or bad and that its incumbent upon inventors to innovate with caution.

But people who are arguing for slowing down the process of building AI, I just find that really questionable, he added. I have a hard time wrapping my head around that. If youre arguing against AI, then youre arguing against safer cars that arent going to have accidents and youre arguing against being able to better diagnose people when theyre sick.

[YouTube is tricking people who search for ISIS videos]

Musk has been warning for years about the risk posed by AI, most recentlytelling a group of governorsthis month that they need to start regulating artificial intelligence, which he called a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization.

When pressed for concrete guidance, Musk said the government must get a better understanding of AI before its too late.

Once there is awareness, people will be extremely afraid, as they should be, Musk said. AI is a fundamental risk to the future of human civilization in a way that car accidents, airplane crashes, faulty drugs or bad food were not. They were harmful to a set of individuals in society, but they were not harmful to individuals as a whole.

After Musk dropped his dig at Zuckerberg on Twitter, thousands of retweets and likes followed. Musk followed up his statement by noting that a movie on the subject is coming soon, but he did not providedetails.

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Billionaire burn: Musk says Zuckerberg's understanding of AI threat 'is limited' - Washington Post