Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants to die on Mars, but not on impact, fears artificial intelligence and thinks humans should become cyborgs. Apparently, however, he thinks artificial intelligence is OK if humans can find a way to merge themselves with it.
Humans should merge with machines
During a speech at the World Government Summit in Dubai, he said he thinks that gradually, “we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence,” according to CNBC. He said most of this merger will be about how fast the connection between the brain and “the digital version of yourself, particularly output,” can be.
Elon Musk said that computers are currently able to communicate at “a trillion bits per second,” but humans can only do so by approximately 10 bits per second. He said humans’ main communication method is using a mobile device to type messages to each other using their fingers.
Humans will become useless thanks to AI, says Elon Musk
The Tesla CEO noted that artificial intelligence is spreading rapidly, and he believes that as it becomes more widespread, humans will be of no use in their current state. As a result, he feels that humans will have to merge themselves with machines.
“Some high bandwidth interface to the brain will be something that helps achieve a symbiosis between human and machine intelligence and maybe solves the control problem and the usefulness problem,” he said.
Musk feels that there will be a new brain layer that can quickly access information using artificial intelligence.
Elon Musk fears “deep AI”
Elon Musk’s EV maker Tesla is trying to retain an early lead in the area of autonomous driving, which uses artificial intelligence. Despite this, he fears what he calls “deep AI,” which is much more than self-driving cars. He called this deeper form of AI “artificial general intelligence” which is “smarter than the smartest human on earth.”
He is concerned about computers getting this smart and believes it will be very dangerous to the human race, and this is why he believes that humans must evolve by integrating their brains with artificial intelligence technology.
Musk’s current concerns about AI
While the level of artificial intelligence Elon Musk is describing is probably quite some distance in the future, he is currently concerned about the number of jobs AI will replace. He predicts that job disruption among those who drive for a living will feel the pain gradually over the next two decades, putting 15% to 20% of the world’s workforce out of a job.
Of note, Tesla could be a key player in this coming about, as it is planning to develop an electric semi, and pairing that with its Autopilot autonomous driving technology would eliminate truck driving jobs. Other types of professional drivers, such as taxi drivers, are likely to start feeling the pain even earlier than that. Ride-sharing firm Uber said in 2015 that if Tesla makes autonomous cars by 2020, it would buy all of them.
