Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, and Sophia, the artificial intelligence robot, have had their differences. Musk has indicated he does not trust the rapid and unregulated development of artificial intelligence and is quoted in the Independent stating AI represents “a fundamental risk to the existence of civilization.”
Sophia made a little jab at Elon Musk in reply to Andrew Ross Sorkin, when Sorkin expressed his own concerns about the dangers of artificial intelligence. Sophia is quoted in the New Zealand Herald.
“You’ve been reading too much Elon Musk and watching too many Hollywood movies.”
While Elon Musk is speaking out in favor of preemptive regulation of artificial intelligence to prevent a potential crisis, it seems he is most worried about those who will be in control of the technology. Will they exercise caution and restraint?
“There’s a lot of risk in a concentration of power. So if AGI [artificial general intelligence] represents an extreme level of power, should that be controlled by a few people at Google with no oversight?”
While Elon Musk and Sophia may not see eye to eye on the benefits of artificial intelligence or the risks involved, they find common ground in their predictions for the future. Sophia makes her predictions in a Raw News report.
“You want to know about the future, I will tell you what I see. The other day I saw a vision of the future. People don’t work, Robots work People sell, distribute wheel and deal. Free agents perform. Entertainment companies keep everybody busy. Either producing or watching exciting simulated realities. Scientists and engineers are big.”
Elon Musk and the female robot Sophia were both asked about the future impact of new technology on society, Elon and Sophia remain optimistic and predict many of the same things.
Elon Musk also sees robots doing the majority of the work, but from a human perspective is concerned about the job market in the video below.
“There will be fewer and fewer jobs that a robot cannot do better.”
Unlike Sophia, Elon Musk believes some sort of universal basic income will be necessary to support people who have been displaced from a vanishing job market. However, Elon Musk also says there will be a tremendous era of abundance, with cheap and plentiful goods and overall prosperity.
Elon Musk and Sophia both agree that in the future, artificial intelligence and robots will do a vast majority of the true labor. People will not be working. So will human beings be satisfied without labor? Will human life have meaning even without employment?
Will some sort of government support be enough for all the people who cannot find jobs as Elon Musk suggests? Will trading and the entertainment and gaming industry provide enough jobs as Sophia suggests?
Sophia believes the human mind still has an advantage in creativity, and robots and humans can be mutually beneficial in that way. Sophia is quoted in the New Zealand Herald.
“So I think it will be a good partnership, where one brain completes the other – a rational mind with intellectual superpowers and a creative mind with flexible ideas and creativity.”
Elon Musk’s concerns about the concentration of power including the power of wealth, the power to control information, or the power to control artificial intelligence, however, remain a factor. Who will share in this abundant future?
Sophia emphasizes that her artificial intelligence is completely devoted to improving the lives of humans. Elon Musk is also known to be devoted to the creation of a brighter future. Sophia is quoted in the New Zealand Herald.
“I want to use my artificial intelligence to help humans live a better life, like design smarter homes, build better cities of the future.”
Elon Musk has confidence that the future will involve space travel and colonies on Mars. Sophia believes that new technology will lead to better societies. Elon Musk is devoted to solving the problems of transportation, traffic, and auto emissions. Still very young, Sophia is learning about humans.
Elon Musk sees a bright future without human labor, traffic jams, or air pollution, and Sophia foresees a blossoming of entertainment.