Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has some strong words for Elon Musk over the Tesla co-founder’s opinions on artificial intelligence.
Musk, who co-founded the artificial intelligence research group OpenAI, has gone on record to express his significant concerns over the rapid development of AI technology. “I have exposure to the most cutting edge AI, and I think people should be really concerned by it,” Musk said earlier this month. “AI is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization,” according to Musk, who predicts this tech will create job disruption and ultimately learn to outthink human beings.
Musk also said that people won’t believe the danger until they see it firsthand, such as with robots walking down the street. He subsequently called for governments and other organizations around the world to take action. “AI is a rare case where we need to be proactive in regulation instead of reactive because if we’re reactive in AI regulation it’s too late,” he warned.
Zuckerberg, however, is much more optimistic over the future of AI and its impact on society. In a nearly 90 minute Facebook Live video stream, Zuckerberg answered a number of user-submitted questions. Eventually, the subject of Musk and his feelings towards AI came up. “I watched a recent interview with Elon Musk and his largest fear for future was AI,” reads a question from user Scott Townend around the 50-minute mark of the Live video. “What are your thoughts on AI and how it could affect the world?”
In response, Zuckerberg said he disagrees with the fear surrounding AI. “I have pretty strong opinions on this. I am optimistic,” Zuckerberg said. “In the next five to 10 years, AI is going to deliver so many improvements in the quality of our lives.”
He also said he doesn’t see why people would feel otherwise. “I think people who are naysayers and try to drum up these doomsday scenarios — I just I don’t understand it. It’s really negative and in some ways I actually think it is pretty irresponsible.”
He spoke to some of the ways he thinks AI can help everyday life, such as through self-driving vehicles or helping treat those who are ill. “If you’re arguing against AI, you’re arguing against safer cars that aren’t going to have accidents, being able to better diagnose people when they’re sick, and I just don’t see how in good conscience some people can do that. I’m just much more optimistic on this in general than probably a lot of folks are.”
Zuckerberg said it’s ultimately about being careful when developing AI technology. “Whenever I hear people saying AI is going to hurt people in the future, I think yeah, you know, technology can generally always be used for good and bad, and you need to be careful about how you build it and you need to be careful about what you build and how it is going to be used,” he said.
Via: CNBC
