Artificial Intelligence Man's 'Existential Threat'; Elon Musk Warns of AI Development Dangers [VIDEO]

Elon Musk, Tesla's chief executive, has warned that the world may be "summoning the demon" with the continuous development of artificial intelligence. Although a great believer of technological advancement, he believes artificial intelligence could be humanity's existential threat, CNET reports. Speaking before the audience of the Centennial Symposium at the MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics department on Oct 25, Musk warned that humanity should be careful about artificial intelligence.

The threat of artificial intelligence becoming self-aware has been a recurring theme in the Tesla chief's public statements, based on previous media reports. Musk has previously revealed in June that he invests in artificial intelligence as one way of keeping an eye on developments. He posted on social media in August that the technology is more harmful than nuclear weapons.

Musk also discussed plans of SpaceX, his other company, to put a human resettlement in Mars. He dreams of establishing a "self-sustaining civilization" in the planet and he doesn't see anyone else pursuing that dream, except SpaceX.

In a report by The Independent, the ethical issues surrounding AI were once again put in the spotlight when it was previously reported that Internet search giant Google had bought DeepMind, a British start-up company specialising in machine learning and algorithms for games and e-commerce. The company, founded by Demis Hasssabis, was bought for $400 million. He has earlier predicted that artificial intelligent machines will be able to learn basic sound processing, vision, movement control and language abilities by the end of 10 years.

Google's purchase of DeepMind came months after the company bought Boston Dynamics which develops life-like military robots. According to reports, Google has created an ethics board after its purchases of AI companies but concerns about the technology still remain.

The threat of artificial intelligence replacing manpower has become more real. For Dr Stuart Armstrong from the Future Humanity Institute at Oxford University, artificial intelligence could trigger mass unemployment. He also warned of the possible security issues if supercomputers were designed or taught to detect human faces.

According to Reuters, Google is hiring more leading experts in the field of artificial intelligence as part of its expansion plans. The company has announced it will partner with Oxford University to accelerate research and development. Google will reportedly make a significant contribution to the university's engineering and science departments.

(Source: YouTube/ErikBajereholt)