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[0] Elon Musk is already the richest person in the world, known for companies like SpaceX and Tesla.
[1] But his $44 billion deal to purchase Twitter has many wondering what fundamentally drives Musk and what his vision for the world really is.
[2] In this episode of Morning Wire, we speak to Daily Wire reporter Tim Meads about Musk's worldview and motivation, as well as how his views on artificial intelligence and technological advancement will impact society.
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[11] Tim, welcome.
[12] So you've followed Elon Musk for quite a while now and you're especially interested in his thoughts on artificial intelligence.
[13] What can you tell us about that?
[14] Sure.
[15] Thank you for having me, John.
[16] So most people assume that Musk, best known for success in the tech industry, would be a huge advocate of artificial intelligence, also known as AI.
[17] And he is to a degree, but he has his reservations.
[18] Musk has said AI will be the best or worst thing ever for humanity.
[19] Musk is consistently begged for regulation of artificial intelligence, because, as he put it, it could become more dangerous than nuclear weapons.
[20] But if AI is checked and regulated, Musk believes it will help mankind find the answers to the meaning of life.
[21] Let's take a step back for a moment here.
[22] give us a brief overview of AI.
[23] What is it and what are some of the tangible ways it might impact the future?
[24] To put it simply, AI or artificial intelligence is a wide -ranging umbrella term concerned with using computer science to build smart machines and robots which are capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence and are usually done by humans.
[25] So basically, it's a technology that mimics thinking.
[26] A couple examples of AI being used today, well, one of the more complicated is self -driving cars, but some of the simpler versions are email filters which decide which messages are real and which should go to your spam folder.
[27] And anytime Netflix recommends a new TV show for you or Spotify suggests a new song, that's also artificial intelligence.
[28] As a Spotify user myself, that AI seems to be remarkably accurate.
[29] And over time within the next decade, experts like Musk believe that AI will become much more advanced and that dangerous jobs will soon be done by complex machines.
[30] Researchers at Oxford have shown that AI will be better at translating languages, writing school essays, and even selling goods.
[31] Within 30 years, AI could potentially write a best -selling book on its own and conduct surgeries by 2053.
[32] Sounds far out there, but eventually AI could become so advanced that it begins to self -teach, so to speak, and could develop the potential to learn at an exponential rate, causing its capabilities to develop faster than humans can keep up with.
[33] Musk warns that could make AI virtually unstoppable.
[34] Now, obviously, Musk is passionate about developing new technologies, but has he discussed specifically why AI is such a focus for him?
[35] So before Musk dies, he would like to see humanity on the path toward asking the right questions about the universe through what he calls expanded consciousness.
[36] All right, so expanded consciousness, this is connected to AI, how so?
[37] So expanding our consciousness with AI basically just means, allowing technology to augment our biological thinking capabilities.
[38] Musk argues that in a way, we are already cyborgs, or half robots, half human beings, because of our use of things like iPhones.
[39] You carry your iPhone around with you, you use it to Google something, and your online personas on Twitter or Instagram or wherever are really digital extensions of you.
[40] It's your personality out there in the digital world.
[41] But currently, you are limited with AI and that you have to reach into your pocket to grab your iPhone.
[42] You then have to use your thumbs to search for whatever you're looking for, and that information doesn't just magically float into your mind the way your thoughts do.
[43] But Musk wants to change that.
[44] In the future, Musk envisions placing chips inside human brains so users won't have to reach for their iPhones to access the internet or apps.
[45] That chip is intended to do much more than that, but the AI will work in symbiosis with your brain.
[46] He's currently working on that technology at one of his company's Neurilink.
[47] and Musk really believes that that AI human symbiotic relationship will maximize our freedom.
[48] Well, I like the definition of like the AI should try to maximize the freedom of action.
[49] Maximize freedom, essentially.
[50] I like that definition.
[51] But we do want a close coupling between collective human intelligence and digital intelligence.
[52] NeurLink is trying to help in that regard by creating an interface between a high bandwidth interface between AI and human brain.
[53] So, as Musk just explained, Neurrelink would put humans in sync with AI.
[54] And if done properly, AI could free up more time so that we can do things that we love while finding the right questions to ask about the meaning of life.
[55] And that's sort of the best outcome, Musk has said.
[56] All right, then what's the worst outcome?
[57] Well, it's pretty bleak.
[58] There's a theory that the worst the thing that could happen is that super -smart AI robots take over the human race and enslave us.
[59] And that theory is officially known as the singularity.
[60] But some experts like tech visionary George Gilder say that will never happen, while Musk truly believes it could happen if we are careless with AI.
[61] And then others have said, though, that there are more immediate dangers.
[62] One of them is that AI will push millions of people out of their jobs and severely disrupt society.
[63] Right.
[64] Experts believe that AI will immediately impact men more than women, given the fact that AI may first be deployed to take over the most dangerous jobs, like working oil fields, working heavy machineries, things of that nature.
[65] Those jobs are typically done by men, and those jobs may be the first to disappear.
[66] And then there's the social and psychological side for men with AI.
[67] Researchers from Bocconi University in Milan, the University of Pittsburgh, and the Free University of Berlin, found that the more robotics transatlantic.
[68] formed manufacture in a given region, like Appalachia coal mining towns, for instance, than the smaller the income gaps were between women and men.
[69] That may sound good, but they also found that marriages declined, divorce and cohabitation increased, marital fertility decreased, and out -of -wedlock births increased as well.
[70] One of the reasons theorized is because men who aren't tailored to family responsibilities are more likely to become involved in destructive behaviors, according to a variety of studies, which then leads to social degradation.
[71] All right, so if people don't have to work or there aren't any jobs, how will they earn a living?
[72] Sure, that's a great question, and that's one that Musk has, he's thought a lot about.
[73] And Musk says that we're going to have a universal income, a basic amount of money granted each month, provided by governments for millions of people who no longer work like we do today in order to live.
[74] He doesn't just believe that this is going to happen.
[75] He's pretty definitive in saying that this will happen and that it needs to happen.
[76] Yeah, but it's simply providing money and giving people tons of free time, really enough to keep society functioning?
[77] Well, to answer that question, I spoke with John Tamney.
[78] He's the director of the Center for Economic Freedom at Freedom Works, and also the author of the book, The End of Work, Why Your Passion Can Become Your Job.
[79] And he's done a lot of research on AI and Musk's proposals.
[80] Here's what he had to say on the topic.
[81] Elon Musk, his vision for the world, my strong sense is that his vision is something that neither the left nor right nor center nor any ideology can possibly comprehend or grasp.
[82] Let's never forget that the reason he's the richest man in the world is that he's consistently pursued what was deemed impossible.
[83] All right, so it sounds like Tamney is a fan of Musk, but what does he say about automation taking over human jobs?
[84] Will there someday be a robot that hosts Morning Wire, God forbid?
[85] Well, down the road, yes, they very well could be, John, but not any time soon.
[86] Tammy thinks that AI could be a massive benefit to mankind in 200 years because humans will be able to monetize their passions because they will actually have the free time to focus on what they truly love to do.
[87] Robots and automation or AI will be the greatest friend to the workers, the world's workers that they've ever known.
[88] And it's going to cause the workers of the world to fall in love with their jobs in ways that will fascinate theoretically older people like me. I wish I could live 100 or 200 years longer to see the kind of work that's going to define the future because I think it's going to be all about people loving what they do.
[89] And Sundays basically no longer being the day that we're depressed or sad because, oh, we've got to get back to work.
[90] Work is where we will showcase our passion.
[91] I mean, it seems to me that there are definitely tasks that most of us don't want to do, and it would be great to have a robot do them.
[92] But a world where humans don't have to work could also be a pretty dystopian, too.
[93] Yeah, certainly.
[94] And that's something that folks who study AI really worry about.
[95] I spoke with Andrew McDermid.
[96] He's another technology author, as well as a senior fellow at Desolp.
[97] Discovery Institute.
[98] McDermott says that in some ways we already are living in that dystopia.
[99] By no means what they term a Luddite or a Neo -Ludite, someone who wants to cast off technology, throw it away and go live in the woods.
[100] I don't advocate that.
[101] But on the topic of artificial intelligence, you know, it's interesting.
[102] Since the industrial revolution, we've learned to make room for machines that we can use as means to achieve our ends.
[103] With the advent of digital technology, our machines are faster and can accomplish more than ever before.
[104] But the reason they exist should stay the same.
[105] Means to an end for humans.
[106] When they stop being tools designed to maximize human potential, that's when we've lost our way.
[107] So McDermott added to me that Musk must remember his mind is the greatest asset that his company has.
[108] Elon Musk does need to continue to recognize that the greatest asset he or any CEO has of any company is human intelligence.
[109] That is the asset that we have to work with, and it's our most valuable thing on planet Earth.
[110] So not to put all his faith in techno -utopian visions, but to do what is going to unlock the potential of the people that are working for him and with him.
[111] That's where the real progress is going to lie.
[112] Musk wants to make the future better for all humans with the help of AI and physics.
[113] I love humanity, and I think that we should fight for a good future for humanity.
[114] And I think we should be optimistic about the future and fight to make that optimistic future happen.
[115] It's all fascinating stuff.
[116] Tim, thanks for the reporting.
[117] Thanks, John.
[118] That was DailyWire's Tim Meads, and this has been a Sunday edition of Morning Wire.