Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg continued their debate about the future of artificial intelligence on Tuesday when Musk responded to statements by Zuckerberg by tweeting that the Facebook CEO’s understanding of the topic is "limited."
Tesla CEO Musk has raised concerns since at least 2014 that smart machines powered by AI could become too powerful if their processing power surpasses that of the human brain. On Sunday, Zuckerberg said in a Facebook Live broadcast that he feels optimistic about AI, and that those raising potential problems about the technology (like Musk) were being “negative” and “irresponsible.”
Musk’s reply on Tuesday through Twitter was dismissive, claiming Facebook founder Zuckerberg has “limited” knowledge about AI, with the implication being that he is unaware of the dangers because of his lack of knowledge.
The debate between the two billionaire tech leaders shows the variety of viewpoints even within the tech sector about the potential of AI and whether it would be possible for AI to surpass human intelligence. Both Zuckerberg and Musk have directly worked with AI: Zuckerberg in developing tools for Facebook users and Musk with self-driving car technology.
Experts expect it to take a few more decades for AI technology to approach human intelligence levels, and some don’t think AI will ever get to that point.
Twitter users asked for more information and speculated about Musk's and Zuckerberg's motives and intelligence.