Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has made a bold prediction about the future of artificial intelligence (AI). During a live interview streamed on the social media platform X, Musk stated that he believes AI will surpass human intelligence by the end of next year. This statement was made in response to a question posed by hedge fund manager Nicolai Tangen about the current state of the AI race.
Musk described AI as the fastest advancing technology he has ever seen, with computers dedicated to AI increasing in capability by a factor of 10 every year, if not every 6-9 months. However, he also acknowledged potential limitations, citing shortages of AI chips and high AI power demands as factors that could restrict AI’s capabilities until these issues are resolved.
Despite his optimistic outlook, Musk’s predictions have been met with skepticism. Grady Booch, a software architecture expert and frequent critic of AI hype, pointed out that Musk has a history of making inaccurate predictions about AI. For instance, Musk promised in 2016 that his cars would ship with Full Self-Driving (FSD) safety level 5 within two years, a promise that remains unfulfilled nearly a decade later.
The concept of creating an AI at least as smart as a human, often referred to as artificial general intelligence (AGI), is widely accepted among AI proponents. However, there is no consensus on when this milestone will be achieved or even on the exact definition of AGI. Despite these uncertainties, companies like OpenAI, which Musk co-founded in 2015, and his new company xAI, are actively working towards this goal.
Read more at: arstechnica.com