So Elon Musk tweeted today in response to an article in VentureBeat, “on the list of people who should absolutely “not” be allowed to develop digital super intelligence. Implying that Anthony Levandowski, Google’s self-driving car engineer who established a nonprofit religious organization called “Way of the Future” should in some manner be barred from developing or moving forward with developing AI? As of this morning when I first saw the tweet there were already 3,458 retweets and I am certain many more by now.
The implications of Mr. Musk’s tweet are unclear. The problem with 140 characters. I will be the first to acknowledge that Mr. Levandowski’s Way of the Future is creepy and dark at best. “To develop and promote the realization of a Godhead based on artificial intelligence and through understanding and worship of the Godhead contribute to the betterment of society.”
And in response to the tweet I replied with the clip from that famous Apple 1984 commercial run at the Superbowl introducing the Mac.
The vision that Chiat/Day advertising painted of IBM at the time was a dark monolithic existence where humans were subject to and enslaved by a computer Godhead. A truly Orwellian vision as when George Orwell first presented it in 1944 in his book “1984”.
But there is a flip side to Mr. Musk’s tweet which was not answered and should be answered. Who should be allowed to develop digital intelligence? Who is the arbitrator or decision maker? Is it Mr. Musk?
Besides building affordable space travel, Elon Musk is building electric cars and rooftop solar panels that look like ordinary roof tiles not to mention the Hyperloop. He thinks audaciously and that is what makes entrepreneurs great in this country. It is what propels all entrepreneurs forward.
The solution is not prohibiting developers from coding digital super intelligence, as that genie is already out of the bag, as Mr. Musk knows. To me, Mr. Musk’s solution (or not as we never hear Mr. Musk’s proposed remedy) of preventing Mr. Levandowski from coding is equally dark and can lead us to the same place. The history of the world shows us there is no such thing as a benign dictator.
Perhaps we should be looking at the definition of what is a religious organization. Mr. Levandowski’s has a registered religious organization (probably in California) which at least to me seems to me to be more like a cult that a church. There probably are existing means to deal with a cult. To start with remove its tax exempt status.
In my tweet replying back to Mr. Musk, I also pointed out that it was a woman who destroyed the Godhead that Mr. Musk muses about. My point being that Women In Tech can do many things and perhaps it will be a woman that comes up with the next SpaceX.
Mr. Musk’s concerns though are valid. Singularity is now a popular topic and should be debated. The amount of data and personal information that companies already have access to would probably have frightened George Orwell. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning though are not going away. This technology is no different than any other technology can be used for good or evil. Man also has an infinite ability to imagine and create. Mr. Musk is living proof of that, as is Leonardo DaVinci, Henry Ford, YoYo Ma, Vera Wang and countless others. How many of us have become frustrated at the speed of our computers even when brand new? The human mind it seems always is able to adapt, catch up and surpass machines. Perhaps AI will augment rather destroy us.
Groups, even small ones are using AI to help mankind. I know of one 501(c)3 nonprofit (www.LymeCure.org) who has partnered with a machine learning software company to help find a cure for Lyme Disease. Perhaps this is a slightly brighter view of the technology.
Just my two cents. I couldn’t fit them in 140 characters.