Name: Musk Warns AI Could Destroy Civilization, Says Google Co-Founder Seeks 'Digital God'
Uploaded: 2023-04-18T18:12:57.000Z
Description: Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has issued a stark warning that artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to destroy civilization, citing the need for a new "pro-human" AI option that seeks the truth.

NTD Newsroom comprises teams of reporters, editors, and producers assigned to cover breaking news and other stories.


NTD Newsroom

NTD Plus

News

News you can trust from the U.S. and around the world. Critical information and insight. We cover the stories that others don’t. NTD News Today airs Monday–Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

NTD News Today

Pentagon Scraps Deployment of 4,000 Troops to Poland

9/11 Memorial and Museum Adds 7th Moment of Silence

AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Launch Joint Venture to Tackle Dead Zones

Stefania Cox is an NTD News anchor and national correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Stefania anchors "NTD Newsroom," and co-anchors "NTD News Today" weekdays at 10:00 am ET.

Stefania Cox

Trump Committed to US Defense, Prosperity, Amid China Talks: Expert

Jerome Powell Ends Tenure as Fed Chair

US Government Sues Chick-fil-A Over Religious Rights

California Gubernatorial Candidates Make Closing Pitches to Voters 

House Passes 1st Fiscal Year 2027 Appropriations Bill

Jason Blair is a national correspondent for NTD News based in California. 

Jason Blair

Federal Judge Partly Blocks Texas Immigration Law

Trump Announces National Garden of American Heroes Plans

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 15)

Paul Greaney is an NTD news anchor and producer. Since joining the company in 2018, he has anchored the station’s flagship Evening News broadcast, launched the NTD Business show, and produced documentary reports on pointed issues. 

The highlight of Paul’s time in the field was his coverage of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Paul Greaney

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 14)

Kevin Hogan is an NTD News data reporter and national correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Kevin covers breaking news, as well as U.S. and global current events. He conveys the news through data visualizations and investigates pressing issues.

Kevin Hogan

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 13)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 12)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 11)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 8)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 7)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 6)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 5)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 4)

Fast, compelling, first-hand news from China. China in Focus airs Monday–Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

China in Focus

China Sends Warships to Pacific Drill as Tensions With Japan Rise

Reuters is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages.

Reuters

We present news that is truthful and based on facts, outside of the political fog. Instead of focusing on the negative things happening around us, our mission is to give our viewers a good morning with empathetic and uplifting stories. Our aim is to provide an antidote to negativity by shining a light on the best side of people. We speak to inspiring people who positively impact communities, pursue topics that represent our common human values, and will never miss an opportunity to bring you heartwarming stories.

NTD Good Morning

2 US Embassy Personnel Assigned to Cartel Case Killed in Car Accident

The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. 

The Associated Press

US News

Gunman Kills 8 Children, Including 7 of His Own, in Louisiana Mass Shooting

Flora Hua is a reporter based at NTD's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers China news, U.S.-China relations, and human rights issues. Flora primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus."  

Flora Hua

Trump: Seized Iranian Ship May Have ‘A Gift From China’

Joseph Lord is a congressional reporter for The Epoch Times.


Joseph Lord

Aldgra Fredly is a freelance writer covering U.S. and Asia Pacific news for The Epoch Times.

Aldgra Fredly

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized in Critical Condition: Spokesman

Wildfires Across Georgia and Florida Have Destroyed Nearly 50 Homes and Are Forcing Evacuations

US Warns of China Hacks via Routers, Smart Devices

Juliet Song is an international correspondent exclusively covering China news for NTD. She primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus," covering U.S.-China relations, the Chinese regime's human rights abuses, and domestic unrest inside China.

Juliet Song

2 Americans Among Suspected Communist Rebels Killed in Clashes With Troops, Philippine Officials Say

Ryan Morgan is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on military and foreign affairs. He was previously a news writer for NTD. 


Ryan Morgan

Mari Otsu is NTD's White House correspondent based in Washington. 

Mari Otsu

World News

Middle East

Iran

3 US Warships Fend Off Iranian Attacks, Trump Says Ceasefire Still Holds

Health News

3 Dead in Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship in Atlantic Ocean: WHO

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has issued a stark warning that artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to destroy civilization, citing the need for a new "pro-human" AI option that seeks the truth.

In a recent wide-ranging interview on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that aired Monday night, Musk cautioned that existing AI technologies, such as Microsoft-aligned "ChatGPT" and Google-owned "DeepMind," are being trained to be politically correct, which he believes is leading to an AI dystopia.

Musk noted that AI has the potential to destroy civilization and called for a new AI option that seeks truth. His concerns stem from the singularity, a point at which AI surpasses human intelligence and becomes impossible to predict.

"What happens when something vastly smarter than the smartest person comes along in silicon form? It's very difficult to predict what will happen in that circumstance," he said. "It's called the singularity. A singularity, like a black hole, because you don't know what happens after that."

The singularity is a possibility, according to DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, who recently noted in a "60 Minutes" interview on CBS that AI could reach a state of "self-awareness." His comments are noteworthy given that last year, Google <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/google-fires-engineer-who-warned-companys-ai-bot-is-sentient-and-hired-an-attorney_4618757.html">fired an AI researcher</a> who claimed its LaMDA language model AI had gained sentience. Google said the claims were unfounded.

Musk emphasized the need for caution with AI and called for government oversight, citing AI as a "danger to the public."

"AI is perhaps more dangerous than, say, mismanaged aircraft design, or production maintenance, or bad car production, in the sense that it is, it has the potential—however small one may regard that probability, but it is nontrivial—it has the potential of civilizational destruction."

If regulations aren't put in place until "something terrible has happened," then it "may be too late."

"The AI may be in control at that point," he added, noting that it is "absolutely" possible for AI to take control and make decisions for people. “That's definitely where things are headed for sure,” he said.
<h2>Musk Says Google Co-Founder Seeks 'Digital God'</h2>
Musk also discussed his conversations with Google co-founder Larry Page about AI safety. Musk said he expressed concern that Page wasn't taking the risks seriously and noted that Page wanted to usher in an AI superintelligence or a "digital god" as soon as possible.

"He really seemed to want digital superintelligence, basically digital god, as soon as possible," Musk said.

"He's made many public statements over the years that the whole goal of Google is what's called AGI, artificial general intelligence, or artificial superintelligence," he added. "I agree with him that there's great potential for good, but there's also potential for bad.

Musk said he advocated for protecting humanity, to which Page allegedly called him a "specist."

"I wasn't the only one there when he called me a specist. Yes, I'm a specist, okay. You got me," Musk quipped. "But what are you?"

"That was the last straw. At the time, Google had acquired Deep Mind, so Google and Deep Mind had about three-quarters of all the AI talent in the world," Musk added. "They obviously had a tremendous amount of money and more computers than anyone else. So I'm like, we're in a unipolar world here."
<h2>Need for 'Truth-Seeking' AI</h2>
Musk initially co-founded OpenAI to "serve as a counterweight to Google" but left the company in 2018 after a power struggle. Since then, the open source organization has become a for-profit company "closely allied with Microsoft," to Musk's discontent.

"In effect, Microsoft has a very strong say, if not directly controls OpenAI at this point," he said. "So, you really have an OpenAI–Microsoft situation, and then Google–Deep Mind are the other two sort of heavyweights in this arena."

The tech billionaire, who has often expressed his concern about the risk AI poses for the future of human civilization, spoke of his ambition for a third alternative in the AI landscape.

Musk said that while he was “late to the game,” he will try to create a “maximum truth-seeking AI trained to care about humanity and be ideologically neutral and seek to understand the universe's nature.

"We want pro-human. Make the future good for the humans. Because we're humans," Musk said.

In his view, an AI that cares about understanding the universe would be less likely to destroy civilization because humans are an intriguing part of the universe. He cited the example of humanity's choice not to exterminate chimpanzees as an illustration of why an AI with such an interest would not view humanity as a threat.

“The intention with OpenAI was to do good. But it's not clear whether it's actually doing good or whether it's ... I can't tell at this point,” he said. “I am worried about the fact that it's being trained to be politically correct, which is simply another way of being untruthful, saying untruthful things.”

Training AI to be politically correct and therefore “deceptive” is a “path to AI dystopia,” he added.

“So, I’m going to start something which I call ‘Truth GPT’ or a maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe,” he said. “I think this might be the best path to safety, in the sense that an AI that cares about understanding the universe is unlikely to annihilate humans because we are an interesting part of the universe."

<em>From <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/musk-warns-ai-could-destroy-civilization-says-google-co-founder-seeks-digital-god_5202030.html">The Epoch Times</a></em>

Science &amp; Tech

Elon Musk

Videos

Business News

04_Top Stories

Latest Clips

Caden Pearson is a reporter covering U.S. and world news.

Caden Pearson

ChatGPT

Latest and breaking news, documentaries, movies, and lifestyle content on NTD+.
 
Empower your knowledge and elevate your spirit with NTD+, your go-to destination for truthful news, insightful documentaries, and captivating lifestyle content that enriches your life.

Musk Warns AI Could Destroy Civilization, Says Google Co-Founder Seeks 'Digital God'

Tulips in Bloom at Netherlands Garden

‘They Train AI to Lie’: Musk and Experts

Twitter Gives Media Outlets Around the World 'Government-Funded' Label

Mass Shootings: Is There a Solution We Can Agree On?

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (April 17)

Ross Muscato covers the U.S. Congress for The Epoch Times.

Ross Muscato

Daniel Monaghan is a reporter for NTD News covering culture, social issues, and education. He holds a BA in Political Science and Government.