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Elon Musk Warns AI Could Cause World War 3

Former Pretoria High School boy, and current world renowned billionaire businessman and founder of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk has warned that the competition between countries for artificial intelligence (AI) superiority could be the cause of a third world war. The South African expat tweeted “it begins” early this morning, along with an article in […]

By SAPeople
04-09-17 17:41
in Eish!

Former Pretoria High School boy, and current world renowned billionaire businessman and founder of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk has warned that the competition between countries for artificial intelligence (AI) superiority could be the cause of a third world war.

The South African expat tweeted “it begins” early this morning, along with an article in The Verge reporting on Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s comments that the nation which leads in AI “will be the ruler of the world”.

Putin said AI is the future for not only Russia, but 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.”

An hour or so later, Musk tweeted that China and Russia will soon be countries with strong computer science… and that “competition for AI superiority at national level most likely cause of WW3 imo”.

A few days ago, Musk recommended “Life 3.0” by Max Tegmark which covers AI. Musk said then: “AI will be the best or worst thing ever for humanity, so let’s get it right.”

He has long lobbied for awareness of the dangers of AI warfare, which he believes is far riskier and could have far more devastating consequences than the threat of nuclear strikes from North Korea.

Musk says an overcautious AI could decide that a strike is the “most probable path to victory”.

Must was one of 100 who signed a letter calling for a UN-led ban of lethal autonomous weapons. The letter said: “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.”