Elon Musk warned us that artificial intelligence will conquer us within the next five years.
The prediction marks a significant revision of previous estimates of when machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence and accelerate at incomprehensible rates.
Renowned futurist Ray Kurzweil has been saying for many years that this tipping point of machine super-intelligence is expected around 2045, citing exponential advances in technologies such as robotics, computers, and AI.
Musk, whose businesses include electric carmaker Tesla and space company SpaceX, said in an interview with The New York Times that current trends suggest AI could surpass humans by 2025.
The billionaire entrepreneur, who also helped found the artificial intelligence lab OpenAI in 2015, has warned about the existential threat posed by advanced AI in recent years. However, he said he still believes the issue is not fully understood.
"My assessment of why AI is overlooked by very smart people is that they don't believe a computer could ever be as smart as they are. And that's just hubris and obviously wrong," he said.
“We are moving into an era where artificial intelligence is much smarter than humans, and I think the time frame for it to surpass us is less than five years from now. That doesn’t mean everything is going to go wrong in five years. It just means things are going to get really weird.”
In 2016, Musk said that humans risk being treated like pets by artificial intelligence unless technology is developed that can connect our brains to computers.
Following his estimates, Musk announced a new interface that aims to implant a chip into the human brain using a device that resembles a sewing machine.
Neuralink with artificial intelligence, according to Musk, as well as treat brain diseases, control their mood, and even let others listen to music directly from their chips.
Both Musk and Kurzweil remain prominent AI researchers who have pledged to support strict guidelines for the development of advanced AI.
An open letter published by the Future of Life Institute (FLI) in 2017 outlined a set of rules deemed necessary to avoid out-of-control artificial intelligence, as well as a scenario involving lethal autonomous weapons.
"We hope that these rules will provide material for vigorous debate and ambitious goals for how artificial intelligence can be used to improve people's lives in the years to come," the institute said.
