Musk: Zuckerberg Doesn’t Get AI

Elon Musk thinks that artificial intelligence will doom humanity. Until the singularity occurs, though, Musk is having to fend off an even more formidable foe: his own peers. Earlier this month, Musk added to his canon of complaints against AI, warning we must regulate its development before “robots [are] going down the street killing people.” In response, AI researchers attacked Musk for his alarmism. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is amongst the complainants: he branded Musk’s screeds as “irresponsible”. Not to be deterred in his one-man war against the machines, the Tesla CEO struck back. In a tweet earlier today, Musk called Zuckerberg’s understanding of AI as “limited.”

Researchers Protest

Pedro Domingos, a machine learning researcher and author of The Master Algorithm, is a leading critic of Musk’s doom propheteering. He told Wired earlier this month:

“Many of us have tried to educate him and others like him about real vs. imaginary dangers of AI, but apparently none of it has made a dent.”

Domingos summed up his reaction in an earlier tweet:

Zuckerberg – “AI Scaremongering is Irresponsible”

During a recent Facebook Q&A, someone asked Zuckerberg about Musk’s stance on AI. Zuckerberg replied that thinks AI is a panacea. Advancements in AI will deliver “so many improvements in the quality of our lives,” he says. While he doesn’t mention Musk by name, he criticises those who stand in the way of AI research. Zuckerberg said:

“I think you can build things and the world gets better, and with AI especially, I’m really optimistic. I think people who are naysayers and try to drum up these doomsday scenarios are — I just, I don’t understand it. It’s really negative and in some ways I think it is pretty irresponsible.

People who are arguing for slowing down the process of building AI, I find that really questionable. If you’re arguing against AI you’re arguing against safer cars that aren’t going to have accidents.”

Musk Strikes Back

Credit to Musk: he won’t be brow-beaten, even by people equally as knowledgeable as he about AI. In direct response to Zuckerberg’s comments, he tweeted:

Which tech billionaire do you want to win this war of words? Either say, I’m sure the robots are loving it.