Elon Musk, a long-time critic of AI, has come out in favor of government regulation of AI development, including at his own company.
While many working on AI believe it is the key to solving countless world problems, there are just as many who are convinced the technology will create far more problems than it solves, perhaps even bringing about the downfall of humanity. Musk has tended to be in the latter camp, even being quoted as saying “I have exposure to the most cutting-edge AI and I think people should be really concerned about it. I keep sounding the alarm bell but until people see robots going down the street killing people, they don’t know how to react because it seems so ethereal.”
That concern didn’t stop Musk from co-founding OpenAI, dedicated to the ongoing development of the technology, however. In fact, Musk’s concerns were one of the driving motivations, as he believed the technology needed responsible development, as opposed to being left in the hands of just a few companies—such as Google and Facebook—who have poor track records protecting user privacy.
Now, in response to a piece by Karen Hao in the MIT Technology Review that covers “OpenAI’s bid to save the world,” Elon Musk has tweeted his support of AI regulation.
All orgs developing advanced AI should be regulated, including Tesla
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 17, 2020
When a user asked whether that regulation should be enacted by local governments or on a global scale, Musk replied “both.”