Elon Musk warns that AI could destroy us all, begs governors to take preemptive action – The Daily Dot

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has a cautionary warning for Americas decision-makers: regulate and control artificial intelligence now, before its too late.

Speaking at the National Governors Association Summer Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island this week, Musk spoke to a group of Democratic and Republican governors, urging them to take proactive action to prepare for the rise of AI. Specifically, he argued that the possible negative effects of AI on human society cant necessarily belegislated away after theyve already begun. Instead it requires preemptive regulations and restrictions for the safety of humankind.

AI is a rare case where I think we need to be proactive in regulation, instead of reactive. Because I think by the time we are reactive in AI regulation, its too late, Must said, viaCNet. AI is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization, in a way that car accidents, airplane crashes, faulty drugs, or bad food were not.

A big part of Musks concern is that AI systems could spark needless wars by way of fake news and information manipulation, a vision not that far from what fans ofThe Terminatorfilm franchise have had bouncing through their heads for the last few decades.

But Musk fervently believes this is a real threat, not something isolated to the realms of science fiction. And while he believes that the general public doesnt have adequate appreciation for the scale of the threat just yet, he thinks that will change in due time.

Once there is awareness, Musk said, people will be extremely afraid, as they should be.

This is far from the first time the Tesla and SpaceX CEO has made dire public warnings about the threats associated with artificial intelligence. In 2014, he cautioned about the perils of rapid AI advancementin a speech to students at MIT. Said Musk then:

I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I wereto guess at what our biggest existential threatis, its probablythat. So, weneed to be very careful with the artificialintelligence. Im increasingly inclined tothink there should be some regulatory oversight at the national and international level, just to make sure that we dont do something very foolish. With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon. You know, in all those stories where theres the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, and hes like yeah, hes sure he can control the demon. Didnt work out.

Hes been joined in these concerns by other prominent thinkers in the world of tech and science, namely Microsoft founder Bill Gates and world-renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking.

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Elon Musk warns that AI could destroy us all, begs governors to take preemptive action - The Daily Dot