During an hour-long conversation in Twitter Spaces on Wednesday night, Elon Musk - who owns Twitter, and is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX - explored the inspiration behind his latest artificial intelligence enterprise. He maintained a positive outlook on the technology and outlined his perspective on why China could possibly be eager to be part of an international standard for the technology. Representatives Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.) took part in the discussion with Musk.
During a discussion that spanned an hour on Wednesday evening on Twitter Spaces, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared his underlying inspiration for his most recent artificial intelligence venture, along with his views on the relationship between the U.S. and China and his opinion on whether AI will lead to a bleak future for humanity. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.), both members of the House Armed Services Committee and Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, joined Musk in the talk, which was advertised as a discussion about the future of AI, the same day Musk launched xAI, his own AI business.
At the start of the chat, Musk discussed his intention of developing xAI, stating that it was almost like “if you can’t beat them, join them.” He co-founded the well-known OpenAI, leaving its board in 2018 and relinquishing his stake. To counter this, he chose to “grow an AI in a good way”; training it to be as inquisitive and honest as possible. Musk believes that if the AI is purposeful and curious, it would be beneficial to humanity. As an alternative to explicitly programming morality into the AI, Musk suggested that authorities take some time to learn about the technology before introducing oversight and consulting industry. He also proposed that an industry group or self-governing body similar to the Motion Picture Association be established.
The three spent a large proportion of their conversation focused on the potential of China surpassing the U.S. in AI and the possibility of some sort of military conflict in relation to Taiwan, which the Chinese government views as part of itself. Musk stated that while in China recently, he had significant conversations regarding AI security. The idea of a "digital superintelligence" supplanting the CCP resonated with those he spoke to, which prompted the Chinese government to act in a regulatory fashion.Musk even expressed he believes the Chinese government would collaborate towards an international framework governing AI.However, Gallagher, who serves as the chair of the select committee on China, disputed that the CCP would be a constructive member of such an international framework. He cautioned that regardless of Musk's warnings, China's leader Xi Jinping will most likely use AI to gain total dominance.Musk then shifted the conversation away from the matter, yet shortly after, reconfirmed his "pro-China" attitude. He stated he has some vested interest in the country but ultimately that the people of China are "really awesome". Gallagher added that he fully supports the individuals of China, but not the ruling party.As Taiwan's status remains unresolved, Musk remarked that he expects it to be difficult to resolve and that his theory on prediction is the outcome which is the most entertaining to a third part is the most likely, which implies the Pacific region may become heated. Despite the ongoing divisions between the United States and China, the two powers have been making diplomatic progress by restoring in-person contact, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visiting recently and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry set to go later this month.
Musk said the world could witness the arrival of digital superintelligence, which is "smarter than any human at anything," within the next five or six years. He noted that it wouldn't necessarily be more capable than the collective intelligence of all humans, as we are already machine-augmented "cyborgs," and this AI would surpass the intelligence of many individuals. While he has voiced alarm over the potential hazards of AI, he is still optimistic about its future and believes that there is a greater chance of a favorable outcome. When asked to provide an analogy for this narrative, Musk compared it to a Netflix series where the penultimate episode would be a face-off between the Western and Chinese worlds, while the grand finale would be AI.
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