The Trouble with Artificial Intelligence

Elon Musk has penned a letter calling for the world to take a beat on Artificial Intelligence, or AI, citing “profound risks to society and humanity.”

The letter, co-authored with hundreds of other people, says this:
“Advanced AI could represent a profound change in the history of life on Earth and should be planned for and managed with commensurate care and resources. Unfortunately, this level of planning and management is not happening, even though recent months have seen AI labs locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one – not even their creators – can understand, predict, or reliably control.”

This comes as Bill Gates penned a letter last week mentioning some concerns such as AI sharing our personal information, becoming too strong, or deciding “that humans are a threat.” Gates take was basically: Yeah, it could be dangerous, but let’s give it a go because it could help poor people. Only, it won’t get to poor people, it will mostly be used by the privileged people who don’t need it.

This letter is quite the opposite. It is replete with warnings that we have not answered the philosophical questions yet and we should do that first.