Alexa, order popcorn.
It’s the battle of the billionaires: Elon Musk, who has warned repeatedly that AI may be our greatest existential threat, says Mark Zuckerberg’s understanding of artificial intelligence is “limited.”
Why would the Tesla and SpaceX CEO tweet such a thing? Well, Zuckerberg sort of started the war of words over the weekend, when during a Facebook livestream of his backyard barbecue on Sunday he answered a question about AI that specifically cited Musk’s warnings about the technology.
“I think people who are naysayers and try to drum up these doomsday scenarios — I don’t understand it,” Zuckerberg said. “It’s really negative and in some ways I actually think it is pretty irresponsible.”
The Silicon Valley Business Journal wrote about Zuckerberg’s comments, and Musk replied to a tweeted link to the article early this morning.
I've talked to Mark about this. His understanding of the subject is limited.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 25, 2017
Burn.
Zuckerberg went on to talk about what he thinks AI can do: help diagnose diseases, make self-driving cars better and more.
“People who are arguing for slowing down the process of building AI, I just find that really questionable,” the Facebook CEO added. “I have a hard time wrapping my head around that.”
Musk, who has issued dire warnings about AI for years, sounded the alarm again last week when he told the nation’s governors that “robots will be able to do everything better than us.” He called for regulation of the development of artificial intelligence.
Musk, Zuckerberg and their companies have invested in AI research. Musk has started San Francisco-based Neuralink, which aims to meld human brains with computers via electrode brain implants. Facebook is part of “the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society.” And both Musk and Zuckerberg are investors in another AI startup, Silicon Valley-based Vicarious.
So which tech mogul is right? You know Twitter has weighed in, and this screenshot captures the back-and-forth in all its glory.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Fact check: The “hyperloop” isn’t exactly done and SpaceX’s rockets have so far been unmanned, although the company does plan to take people to space. Also, Zuckerberg did create an AI-powered home butler named Jarvis.
But Twitter appears to be Musk territory.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
On Facebook, the commenters on Zuckerberg’s video as he talked about AI were mostly on his side — when they weren’t asking for money or jobs from the world’s sixth-richest person, that is.
“Elon is making cars already that uses AI and it’s a huge improvement and much safer,” said one commenter.
“Watson can help with diagnosis already. If we can help doctors, we have a responsibility to do it,” said another.
As for other well-known people who have voiced their opinion on the dangers of AI, famed scientist Stephen Hawking has also warned about the rise of the robots. (He and Musk have signed on to a set of principles to try to ensure the development of AI benefits humanity.)
Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO and now executive chairman of Alphabet — whose AlphaGo software has defeated the world’s best human Go players — has downplayed the downside of artificial intelligence, calling the concerns “normal” but “misguided.”
Photos: Mark Zuckerberg, left, and Elon Musk. (AFP/Getty Images)