Elon Musk has issued a cautionary statement, suggesting that should individuals from the “environmental movement” be responsible for programming artificial intelligence (AI), it could potentially result in the endangerment of humanity.
During his appearance on comedian Joe Rogan’s podcast on Tuesday, Elon Musk expressed the belief that certain individuals might employ AI technology to safeguard the environment, even if it means endangering human existence.
This statement comes ahead of the UK’s AI safety summit, which is currently taking place, and where he is scheduled to meet with the UK Prime Minister. It’s important to note that many experts consider such warnings to be exaggerated.
Nick Clegg, the President of Global Affairs at Meta and former Deputy Prime Minister, is also participating in the summit. He highlighted the risk of placing excessive emphasis on envisioning what AI might become in the future while neglecting the pressing issues of the present.
Clegg cautioned against allowing “speculative, sometimes somewhat futuristic predictions” to overshadow the more immediate challenges that need to be addressed.
Mr. Musk explained that his comments were motivated by concerns that the environmental movement had taken an extreme stance. He expressed the view that if one begins to perceive humans as inherently negative, the logical consequence could be the belief that humans should cease to exist.
He warned that if AI is programmed by those with the objective of human extinction, its primary purpose would be to bring about the end of humanity, and such programmers might not even view this as a negative outcome.
Mr. Musk is scheduled to hold a conversation with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on his platform X later on Thursday.
AI is ‘too important’
While not everyone shares Mr. Musk’s particular interpretation of the AI threat, there is a general consensus that AI does come with potential dangers.
Demis Hassabis, the co-founder of Google Deepmind, one of the UK’s prominent AI companies, stressed the importance of avoiding the “move fast and break things” ethos associated with Silicon Valley. He acknowledged that this approach has been highly successful in building large tech companies and offering a multitude of valuable services and applications. However, he contended that AI is of too great significance, and substantial efforts are necessary to ensure that we comprehend AI systems and can deploy them safely and responsibly.
Hassabis highlighted possible risks associated with AI, such as the creation of misinformation and deepfakes, as well as the intentional misuse of the technology by malicious individuals.
Safety summit
Over the next two days, approximately 100 global leaders, tech industry leaders, scholars, and AI researchers will convene at the Bletchley Park campus in the UK. This historic site was once home to the codebreakers whose efforts contributed to the Allied victory during World War Two.
The summit will feature discussions on how to optimize the advantages of artificial intelligence, including its potential in discovering new medications and addressing climate change issues, all while mitigating associated risks.
Particular attention at the summit will be directed toward the severe risks presented by cutting-edge AI, often referred to as frontier AI, which Demis Hassabis characterized as the “tip of the spear.” Key priorities for the summit encompass concerns related to bio-terrorism and cyberattacks.
The international attendees at the summit include notable figures such as US Vice President Kamala Harris and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. China is also sending a representative.
There has been criticism regarding the guest list, which is perceived to be heavily dominated by major American corporations, including OpenAI (the creator of ChatGPT), Anthropic, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Tesla, along with Elon Musk, who owns Tesla and X (formerly Twitter). Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will conduct a live conversation with Mr. Musk on X on Thursday evening.
Some have raised concerns that recent announcements made by both the US and the G7 specifically concerning AI safety might have overshadowed the event. However, Demis Hassabis asserted that the UK still has the potential to play “an important role” in shaping discussions.
Kind of sci-fi
Aidan Gomez, the founder of Cohere, has traveled from Toronto to the UK for the summit. His company received a valuation of $2 billion in May 2023.
He expressed the belief that there are more pressing concerns than the hypothetical “doomsday Terminator scenario,” which he characterized as somewhat science fiction in nature.
“In my personal perspective, I would prefer that we concentrate on more immediate issues where concrete policy actions are required,” he remarked.
Gomez continued, “The technology is not yet prepared, for example, to make prescription decisions for patients, given the potential life-threatening consequences of errors.”
He stressed the importance of maintaining human presence and oversight of these systems and the necessity for regulatory measures to guide and ensure the responsible use of this technology.
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