Spacex and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is known for his contribution to the world of non-conventional technology, has something really important to say about artificial intelligence. In remarks that should really have spooked many techies, Musk, whose comments are often taken with much seriousness, described artificial intelligence as “the greatest risk we face as a civilization” and called for swift and decisive government intervention to oversee this technology’s development. To apply weight to his argument, Musk reminded that he is someone with access to very advanced artificial intelligence. “On the artificial intelligence front, I have access to the very most cutting edge AI, and I think people should be really concerned about it,” Musk was quoted as saying by fortune.com. However, this is not the first time that Musk has cautioned about the risks of AI. But this time, his statements before the nation’s governors gained significance for their dire severity and his forceful call for government intervention. “AI’s a rare case where we need to be proactive in regulation, instead of reactive. Because by the time we are reactive with AI regulation, it’s too late,” he said. He further argued that AI poses a severe risk to human civilisation and drew a contrast between AI and traditional targets for regulation. “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,” Musk said.
The Tesla CEO went on to suggest that Government regulators must intervene and ask companies to assure safety. “I’m against overregulation for sure,” Musk emphasized, “But man, I think we’ve got to get on that with AI, pronto.” Musk made his comments while appearing before a meeting of the National Governor’s Association on Saturday.
