Elon Musk says artificial intelligence isn't 'necessary for anything'

Elon Musk says artificial intelligence isn't 'necessary for anything'

Elon Musk has hit out at artificial intelligence (AI), saying it is not “necessary for anything we’re doing”.

The Tesla, Twitter and SpaceX owner claimed super-intelligence was “a double-edged sword”.

“If you have a genie that can grant you anything, that presents a danger,” according to the billionaire, who said AI could be used to create “drone wars”.

Speaking via video link to the Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) CEO Council Summit in London, Musk said he expects governments around the world to utilize AI to develop weapons before anything else.

“So just having more advanced weapons on the battlefield that can react faster than any human could is really what AI is capable of.”

“Any future wars between advanced countries or at least countries with drone capability will be very much drone wars.”

When asked if AI advances the end of an empire, he replied: “I think it does. I don’t think (AI) is necessary for anything that we’re doing.”

“There’s a little late-stage empire vibes right now,” he also said.

In March, Musk was among a number of technology experts who urged scientists to pause developing AI so it does not pose a risk to humanity.

More than 1,000 people signed an open letter demanding all labs stop training AI systems for at least six months.

They called for a temporary halt to the “dangerous race” to develop systems more powerful than OpenAI’s recently launched GPT-4.

If such a pause cannot be enacted quickly, the letter says governments should step in and institute a moratorium.