Elon Musk has hit back at Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in a debate on artificial intelligence destroying humanity by suggesting Zuckerberg’s knowledge on the subject is “limited”.
During a Facebook Live Q&A over the weekend, Zuckerberg was asked about Musk’s view that AI is his largest fear for the future and that it could destroy humanity – something Zuckerberg said was “really negative” and “pretty irresponsible”.
“I have pretty strong opinions on this. I’m really optimistic,” he said.
“And I think people who are naysayers and try to drum up these doomsday scenarios – I just, I don’t understand it.”
However, Tesla and SpaceX boss Musk hasn’t taken too kindly to the comments, replying in pointed fashion to a tweet that referenced Zuckerberg’s view.
I've talked to Mark about this. His understanding of the subject is limited.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 25, 2017
“I’ve talked to Mark about this. His understanding of the subject is limited,” the entrepreneur wrote.
Zuckerberg’s comments came after Musk recently referred to the rise of AI as a “fundamental risk to the existence of human civilisation” at a meeting with US governors.
The Tesla chief said he will “keep sounding the alarm bell” on the issue.
“But until people see robots going down the street killing people, they don’t know how to react, because it seems so ethereal,” he said.
Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly prevalent in everyday life, with products such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home smart speakers introducing millions more consumers to the technology since their release in the UK last year.
Smartphone-based assistants such as Apple’s Siri have also enabled users to become increasingly familiar with artificial intelligence.
Facebook founder Zuckerberg has a decidedly more positive view on the technology’s potential.
“In the next five to 10 years, AI is going to deliver so many improvements in the quality of our lives,” he said.
“If you think about just safety, and health and keeping people safe, AI is already helping us basically diagnose diseases better, match up drugs with people depending on what they’re sick (with) so they can get treated better.
“If you look at self-driving cars, they’re going to be safer than people driving cars – that’s only a matter of time. One of the top causes of death for people is car accidents still. If you can eliminate that with AI that’s just going to be a dramatic improvement.”
