Powerful tech leaders and other public figures have been sounding the alarm on the potential dangers of AI technology for years, including Elon Musk, who has never been silent about the issue.
Now, the multi-CEO is alleging that the technology will soon be able to outsmart even the most intelligent of humans.
In a livestream interview on Monday on X, which he owns, the billionaire spoke with Nicolai Tangen, the CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, about the potential advancement of AI technology.
Related: Elon Musk Releases the AI Model Behind Grok, a Competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT
“AI is the fastest advancing technology I’ve seen of any kind, and I’ve seen a lot of technology,” Musk said. “My guess is we’ll have AI smarter than any one human around the end of next year.”
However, the demand for chips and electricity could limit progress, he said.
— Nicolai Tangen (@NicolaiTang1) April 8, 2024
In 2023, Musk predicted a five- to six-year timeline before superintelligence, but followed up with a growth chart of how the technology has advanced over the last two-plus decades, saying that the visual depiction “says it all.”
The AI compute growth chart says it all https://t.co/Lj2o4CfVN8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 8, 2024
Musk co-founded OpenAI (the creator of ChatGPT) with Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, but sued the pair last month alleging that they “breached the founding agreement” of the company by working towards commercial success instead of using the company technology to “benefit humanity.”
Related: Elon Musk Sues ChatGPT-Maker OpenAI, Sam Altman
Musk also stood alongside fellow tech titans including Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg last September at a U.S. government AI summit to discuss the need for regulation.
“There’s some chance – above zero – that AI will kill us all. I think it’s low but there’s some chance,” Musk told reporters following the session. “The consequences of getting AI wrong are severe.”
Whether or not this comes to fruition in the next year will remain to be seen.
A recent survey by Tata Consultancy Services of 21 corporate futurists shows that superintelligence is not where most see AI going.
Futurist and author Bernard Marr told CNBC earlier this week that, while we are “a very long way from AI becoming sentient, if ever,” AI technology has become “very, very good at doing things that in the past only humans could do.”