Russia’s president revealed his fears over artificial intelligence when he asked Russia’s largest technology firm a question—how long will it be until AI technology will “eat us.”
He replied simply with, “I hope never.”
Then after a pause, Volozh explained that other machines are “better than humans” in certain areas. He gave the example of an excavator performing better at digging than a person digging with a shovel.
He added, “But we don’t get eaten by excavators.”
The answer did not impress Putin. He interjected saying, “They don’t think.”
Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, has repeatedly warned about the dangers of artificial intelligence. However, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg seemed to disagree with Musk’s warnings, comparing it to fear mongering.
“With AI especially, I’m really optimistic,” Zuckerberg said during a Facebook Live broadcast. “I think that people who are naysayers and kind of try to drum up these doomsday scenarios -- I just, I don’t understand it. I think it’s really negative and in some ways I actually think it is pretty irresponsible.”
In July Musk hit back on Twitter saying, “I’ve talked to Mark about this. His understanding of the subject is limited.”
Putin, speaking on Friday, Sept.1, at a meeting with students, said the development of AI raises “colossal opportunities and threats that are difficult to predict now.”
He warned, “The one who becomes the leader in this sphere will be the ruler of the world.”
“It would be strongly undesirable if someone wins a monopolist position,” and promised that Russia would be ready to share its know-how in artificial intelligence with other nations.
The Russian leader predicted that future wars will be fought by drones, and “when one party’s drones are destroyed by drones of another, it will have no other choice but to surrender.”
“We do not have long to act,” the experts wrote, with unprecedented bluntness and alarm. “Once this Pandora’s box is opened, it will be hard to close.”
