According to renowned technology innovator Elon Musk, World War 3 would most likely be caused by competition for Artificial Intelligence (AI) superiority between countries.
Musk, who is the founder of various companies like Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink and OpenAI, took to Twitter to share his opinion on the troubling topic. "Competition for AI superiority at national level most likely cause of WW3 imo," said the innovator.
In a subsequent post, he further explained his views by saying that the war may not be started by a country leader, but by one of the AIs, "if it decides that a preemptive strike is most probable path to victory."
His comments were made in response to an article reporting Russian President Vladimir Putin's comments about the importance of AI. "Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind," said the Russian leader in a report by RT. "It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world."
The billionaire is less concerned about North Korea, even as news about the authoritarian state's testing of powerful bombs are circulating around the world. "NK launching a nuclear missile would be suicide for their leadership, as SK, US and China wd invade and end the regime immediately," said Musk in his Twitter post. He also noted that North Korea has no alliances that could polarize the world into war.
Instead, he is more concerned at what governments could do to obtain AI from corporations. "They will obtain AI developed by companies at gunpoint, if necessary," added Musk.
This is not the first time that Musk has made warnings about AI. Earlier this year, he predicted that by 2030 to 2040, AIs will be beating humans at everything.
Still, Musk's companies are still in the forefront of AI technology, with Tesla employing the technology in its cars' autonomous driving capabilities.
