Musk warns that AI built by authoritarian governments could outlast individuals

He made the comments in the new documentary Do You Trust This Computer?

Elon Musk has famously compared AI to 'summoning the devil'.

Now the Tesla billionaire claims the technology could lead to the creation of immortal robot leaders from which humanity can never escape.

His comments were made in the new documentary 'Do You Trust This Computer?' by Chris Paine which premiered in Los Angeles last night.

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Elon Musk has famously compared AI to 'summoning the devil'. Now the Tesla billionaire claims the technology could lead to the creation of immortal robot leaders from which humanity can never escape

The documentary explores the potential advantages and dangers of AI.

In it, an impassioned Musk talks about the nightmarish possibility that AI built by authoritarian governments could outlast individual leaders.

This, he says, will create a permanent structure of oppression.

We could create 'an immortal dictator from which we would never escape,' he claims.

According to Mashable, the billionaire felt so strongly about the dangers of AI that he has paid for the film to be free on Vimeo until Sunday night.

'It's a very important subject,' he told a crowd Thursday night at the film's premiere in Los Angeles.

'It's going to affect our lives in ways we can't even imagine right now.'

The warning comes shortly after Musk outlined his dire prediction for AI in a talk to employees at one of his companies, Neuralink, according to Rolling Stone.

He said there is 'maybe a five to 10 per cent chance of success' if we went to war with robots.

He also made a warning in July that regulation of artificial intelligence is needed because it's a 'fundamental risk to the existence of human civilisation.'

The billionaire said regulations will stop humanity from being outsmarted by computers, or 'deep intelligence in the network', that can start wars by manipulating information.

Elon Musk said that when it comes to making AI safe, there is 'maybe a five to 10 per cent chance of success.' Pictured is a scene from Terminator, in which robots threaten to take over Earth

Governments must have a better understanding of artificial intelligence technology's rapid evolution in order to fully comprehend the risks, he said.

'Once there is awareness, people will be extremely afraid, as they should be...By the time we are reactive in AI regulation, it'll be too late,' he added.

'Normally the way regulations are set up is when a bunch of bad things happen, there's a public outcry, and after many years a regulatory agency is set up to regulate that industry,' said Musk.

'It takes forever. That, in the past, has been bad but not something which represented a fundamental risk to the existence of civilisation.'

His latest claims follow a warning he made in July that regulation of artificial intelligence is needed because it's a 'fundamental risk to the existence of human civilisation,' during an interview with Nevada Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval

A TIMELINE OF ELON MUSK'S COMMENTS ON AI Musk has been a long-standing, and very vocal, condemner of AI technology and the precautions humans should take Elon Musk is one of the most prominent names and faces in developing technologies. The billionaire entrepreneur heads up SpaceX, Tesla and the Boring company. But while he is on the forefront of creating AI technologies, he is also acutely aware of its dangers. Here is a comprehensive timeline of all Musk's premonitions, thoughts and warnings about AI, so far. August 2014 - 'We need to be super careful with AI. Potentially more dangerous than nukes.' October 2014 - 'I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I were to guess like what our biggest existential threat is, it’s probably that. So we need to be very careful with the artificial intelligence.' October 2014 - 'With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon.' June 2016 - 'The benign situation with ultra-intelligent AI is that we would be so far below in intelligence we'd be like a pet, or a house cat.' July 2017 - 'I think AI is something that is risky at the civilisation level, not merely at the individual risk level, and that's why it really demands a lot of safety research.' July 2017 - 'I have exposure to the very most cutting-edge AI and I think people should be really concerned about it.' July 2017 - 'I keep sounding the alarm bell but until people see robots going down the street killing people, they don’t know how to react because it seems so ethereal.' August 2017 - 'If you're not concerned about AI safety, you should be. Vastly more risk than North Korea.' November 2017 - 'Maybe there's a five to 10 percent chance of success [of making AI safe].' March 2018 - 'AI is much more dangerous than nukes. So why do we have no regulatory oversight?' April 2018 - '[AI is] a very important subject. It's going to affect our lives in ways we can't even imagine right now.' April 2018 - '[We could create] an immortal dictator from which we would never escape.' November 2018 - 'Maybe AI will make me follow it, laugh like a demon & say who’s the pet now.' September 2019 - 'If advanced AI (beyond basic bots) hasn’t been applied to manipulate social media, it won’t be long before it is.' February 2020 - 'At Tesla, using AI to solve self-driving isn’t just icing on the cake, it the cake.' Advertisement

Pressed for more specific guidance, Musk said the first step is for government to get a better understanding of the fast-moving achievements in developing artificial intelligence technology.

Musk's comments come as AI experts warn a South Korean University is in the process of developing a secret robot army that could destroy humanity.

Top academics claim the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (Kaist) is working with weapons manufacturer Hanwha Systems to develop the technology.

More than 50 leading academics from 30 different countries have now signed a letter boycotting the institution and expressing concern about its AI plans.

Calling it a 'Pandora's box', the experts believe AI and automated killing droids should not be used as weapons of war.

Experts are distressed at the possibility of AI robots being developed for malicious purposes and claim it could lead to a third revolution in warfare.