Elon Musk brings star energy to UK’s AI summit – however his security stance seems unpredictable and up within the air

Few individuals have been as outspoken as Elon Musk in the case of the potential threats posed by AI.

The billionaire proprietor of SpaceX, Tesla, and the web site previously referred to as Twitter has been sounding the alarm for a number of years, warning of Terminator-like situations properly earlier than the arrival of instruments like ChatGPT took the talk from nerdy tech circles proper to the center of public discourse.

Mr Musk’s assessments have been bleaker over the previous yr, going as far as to counsel “civilisation destruction” is a attainable final result ought to people ever develop an AI so highly effective that we lose management.

He could also be one thing of a Marmite determine, however we might all agree that may not be excellent.

Mr Musk may have the right alternative to air his issues once more this week on the UK’s AI security summit.

He’ll actually convey some star energy and can host an occasion with Rishi Sunak afterwards on X.

Had it taken place every week in the past, their talks might have uncovered an obvious dividing line between them.

Mr Musk has spent a lot of this yr welcoming the prospect of regulation of AI, telling the US Congress again in September there was “overwhelming consensus” for it.

Mr Sunak then again has expressed warning, saying an excessive amount of oversight would stifle innovation.

But after Joe Biden introduced a sweeping set of safeguards this week, Mr Musk appeared to alter his tune.

“Uh oh,” he tweeted, when it was identified the president’s proposals included an order to fight “algorithmic discrimination” and guarantee AI “advances civil rights”.

In one other tweet, he recommended authorities regulation is likely to be one thing we remorse.

Governments do have a tightrope to stroll between wanting to manage and inspiring innovation. Mr Musk might merely suppose the White House has received the stability fallacious.

AI scientist Dr Christian Guttmann, of Pegasystems, says whereas a “close eye” must be stored on how it’s used, regulation that is too restrictive too early dangers halting essential progress.

Mr Musk, he says, “has been exposed to the power of AI” greater than most via his varied firms and “we should all be very curious” about his plans.

But the billionaire’s scepticism can also simply be one other instance of how his phrases usually contradict his actions.

In March, Mr Musk signed a letter calling for the event of AI to be paused as a result of it was so harmful.

A month later he mentioned he needed to develop his personal rival to ChatGPT, after which launched his personal AI start-up.

The know-how has additionally lengthy been a cornerstone of Tesla, from self-driving vehicles to plans for a humanoid robotic.

Never thoughts Marmite, Musk is extra of a field of sweets in the case of his public stance on AI: you by no means know what you are going to get.

It ought to make his X chat with the prime minister an fascinating spectacle.