Tweet This
Over the past year big names in technology and science like Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking have warned that the threat of artificial intelligence gone bad, a la Skynet in the "Terminator" franchise, might be more than just science fiction.
In tweets and multiple public appearances, Musk has compared the dark potential of unfettered artificial superintelligence to "summoning the demon" and to Skynet itself. On Thursday, the SpaceX and Tesla Motors head put his money where his mouth is with a $10 million donation to the Future of Life Institute for the creation of a grant program that will look into how to keep AI friendly towards meatbags like you and I.
"Here are all these leading AI researchers saying that AI safety is important," Musk said in a statement, referring to an open letter signed by a number of leaders in the field. "I agree with them, so I'm today committing $10M to support research aimed at keeping AI beneficial for humanity."
As with most things Musk says and does, there's an aspect of salesmanship to be found when reading between the lines. Musk has invested in two major AI firms, Vicarious and DeepMind Technologies, the latter of which was acquired by Google. Lo and behold, look who else is quoted in the release announcing Musk's donation:
"Dramatic advances in artificial intelligence are opening up a range of exciting new applications", said Demis Hassabis, Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman, co-founders of DeepMind Technologies. "With these newfound powers comes increased responsibility. Elon's generous donation will support researchers as they investigate the safe and ethical use of artificial intelligence, laying foundations that will have far reaching societal impacts as these technologies continue to progress."
Worth reading Superintelligence by Bostrom. We need to be super careful with AI. Potentially more dangerous than nukes.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 3, 2014
Musk is a visionary who makes big gambles on creating whole new sectors that have the potential to move humanity forward, arguably, but he's also a capitalist who knows that the potential rewards are in line with the magnitude of the risk.
For all his bluster about the dangers of AI, which is supported by others like Hawking and Nick Bostrom in his recent tome on the topic, "Superintelligence," I'd wager Musk has decided to be vocal on the issue and to make this "donation" as a pre-emptive strike against negative public opinion, a potential obstacle for AI on its journey towards maturity and profitability. In other words, for Musk, it's about protecting an investment as much as it is about protecting humanity from mean-spirited machines.
After all, Musk has said that Tesla will be the first to market with self-driving autonomous vehicles. That's a low-level of artificial intelligence compared to Skynet-like superintelligence, but Musk still has to ensure that we'll be comfortable riding around in "smart" cars as AI develops further. My bet is he's willing to pay much more than $10 million in the long run to ensure the public's peace of mind on that front.
