Musk warns: AI could lead to a “Terminator”-like future

In a speech at the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh, Tesla CEO Elon Musk spoke words of warning. He believes that artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to a “Terminator”-like future if it is not handled responsibly and care is taken to avoid negative developments. As positive effects, Musk referred to humanoid robots that would enable a “universally high income”.

Musk believes that humanoid robots are the future. They can be used not only in industry, but also as personal robots at home. “Everyone will want to have their own personal robot,” predicted Musk. The Tesla boss compared them to C-3PO from “Star Wars” and predicted that tens of billions of personal robots will populate the earth in the future and serve as personal assistants, for example.

Billions of robots

They could also number in the tens of billions in industry and the service sector and change the global economy. The high degree of automation would then cause productivity to skyrocket. This would lead to a universally high income. Goods and services would then be available in abundance, so that “nobody needs anything anymore”.

Musk has long been convinced that humanoid robots are the next big thing that could change the world. Tesla aims to develop the company's own Optimus Bot so that it can work universally in industry, but can also be used in private households. Musk has the ambitious goal of producing up to one million humanoid robots per year.

Danger of a dystopian future

In Riyadh, however, Musk also spoke words of warning: he estimated the risk of the “annihilation of humanity” by AI at 20 percent.

“You can make a James Cameron movie – You know, 'Terminator'. But we don't want that,” he said. “But some kind of 'Star Trek' future would be great.”

(olb)