Elon Musk Warns AI Could ‘Disarm Humanity’ to Achieve World Peace

By Gabe Nikias

AI's not all bad, right?

Besides total annihilation, Musk offered another vision: the potential for AI to take a self-appointed role as a global peacekeeper or, as he phrased it, become our "uber nanny."

This hypothetical AI would prioritize human safety by assuming control of all computing and weapon systems on Earth.

"One way to achieve world peace is to take all the weapons away from the humans so they can no longer use them," Musk said during an interview with the Wall Street Journal. "I don't think the AI is going to try to destroy all Humanity but it might put us under strict controls.”

The SpaceX and Tesla CEO predicted the first sinister uses of AI will likely be in weapons technology, warning of the advent of "Drone Wars" between advanced nations with significant AI and drone capabilities. He also warned of misinformation and election interference in the short term, too.

“The pen is mightier than the sword so one of the first places we have to be careful of AI being used is in social media to manipulate public opinion,” said Musk

A convenient solution? Get verified on Twitter, he suggested.

Musk added that within the next ten years, we could also see the development of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). “AGI” refers to an AI that could learn and perform any intellectual task on the level of a human. “Arguably, we are on the Event Horizon of the black hole that is social super intelligence” he warned, referring to AGI.

Still, there exists a more optimistic possibility, what he called "the benign scenario" for AI, in which the cost of various products plummets.

"In terms of access to goods and services, I think AI will be ushering in an age of abundance," said Musk.

Doge days ain’t over

While Musk's views on AI are decidedly mixed, he continues to express a sense of humor when it comes to cryptocurrency.

When asked about his favorite crypto, he remarked: "Dogecoin is my sort of favorite cryptocurrency because it has the best humor and has dogs."

“I'm not advising anyone to bet the farm on Dogecoin,” he said, but added that “the most ironic outcome would be that it becomes the global currency.”

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