Elon Musk appeared before the National Governor's Association last Saturday, July 15 and he warned them against Artificial Intelligence. The SpaceX and Tesla founder argued that AI is one of the greatest risk humans "face as a civilization."
The businessman lobbied for an urgent government move to regulate the development and intervene with the use of artificial intelligence in humans. Modern applications and robotics can be overwhelmingly intelligent, therefore humans should try to set standards and boundaries as to how far they can go.
The rise of AI
Musk himself is a supporter of artificial intelligence. In fact, he launched a startup called OpenAI to help algorithms reach their full potential. The company provides virtual environment called "gyms" for developers who want their system to learn more. This alone means Musk has an understanding of how it works and its infinite potential. His concern comes from knowing how the system works.
“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 said during the meeting.
According to Futurism, the businessman had always been vocal about the potential and the risks involved with the applications.
But this time, he pressed for government intervention. This implies the urgent need of regulations.
Government actions to on AI use
Humans must be proactive when it comes to regulations. This is due to the fact that AI technologies are progressing swiftly and that people should act before it's too late. But the business tycoon also stressed the difference between accidents and risks from intelligent robotic systems.
The risk of AI to Human Civilization falls entirely on a new level and is different from airplane crash or car accidents.
Today, more and more companies are developing smart technologies. No one can tell how far these technologies can go and how smart they can become. This makes government regulations all the more significant before advanced AI cause imminent dangers to other species including humans.
Safety Precaution
The most vital issue raised by Musk is safety. All systems should adhere to a standard set by the government to make sure that they are safe for use around humans. So far, the said standards have not been set. These will be applicable to all players, even competing companies and in the long run, will result in smarter and safer advanced systems.
The impact of robotics on human
Not only will robots take over the jobs of humans in the future, some workers may be useless by then. People will lose jobs when robots take over everything. This "social destabilization" is another scenario where government regulations are necessary.
But in the end, Musk emphasized the importance of making sure that AI won't be able to harm human beings. He mentioned the possibility of war. He said he is against over regulation but the issues here should be dealt with as soon as possible.
