Voicing his fears of AI time and time again, Elon Musk, the entrepreneur and chief of the SpaceX, Tesla and The Boring Company on Monday said that the competition between global powers to acquire artificial intelligence (AI) to rule the world could trigger World War III. “China, Russia, soon all countries w strong computer science,” Musk warned. “Competition for AI superiority at national level most likely cause of WW3 imo.”
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2017 Musk went on to elaborate about a situation straight out of the classic 1983 flick WarGames:
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2017 The tweets from Musk comes in response to statements made by Russian President Vladimir Putin last week that commended AI’s geopolitical potential and the digital arms race that will follow. “Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind. It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world,” Putin told Russian students via satellite, RT reported. Musk has always been vocal against the rise of AI and the danger it poses for humanity. Last month, he expressed his concerns about killer AI-powered robots and was one of the 116 signatories who wrote an open letter to the United Nations seeking a ban on lethal autonomous weapon systems. The letter read, “Lethal autonomous weapons threaten to become the third revolution in warfare. Once developed, they will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend. These can be weapons of terror, weapons that despots and terrorists use against innocent populations, and weapons hacked to behave in undesirable ways. We do not have long to act. Once this Pandora’s box is opened, it will be hard to close.” Last month, Musk had said there is “vastly more risk” in “AI safety” than North Korea.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2017 In July, speaking to United States governors , Musk had said that “AI is a fundamental existential risk for human civilisation,” The Independent reported. “I have exposure to the most cutting-edge AI and I think people should be really concerned about it,” he said. “I keep sounding the alarm bell but until people see robots going down the street killing people, they don’t know how to react because it seems so ethereal.” He had also got into a war of words with Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg over AI, questioning his ability to understand the dangers of AI. “I’ve talked to Mark about this,” explained Musk. “His understanding of the subject is limited.”
