Musk: "99% of Human Intelligence Will Become Digital... AI Must Pursue Truth"

Milken Conference Dialogue Discusses AI, Space, Immigration
"Truth-Seeking AI Builds and Advances Civilization"

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, predicted the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on civilization and emphasized that AI development should be carried out in a way that benefits humanity.

On the 6th (local time) at the 27th Milken Global Conference held in Los Angeles, USA, Musk responded to a question about the impact of AI on the future of humanity. He said, "The proportion of human biological intelligence is gradually decreasing," and predicted, "Eventually, the proportion of biological intelligence will be less than 1%, and most intelligence will be digital."

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

He added, "Considering such a scenario, AI should be developed to pursue the utmost truth and curiosity and to be beneficial to humanity," emphasizing, "We must not teach AI to lie, and even if it is not politically correct, AI should be able to say what it believes to be true."

Regarding whether AI can accelerate humanity's space exploration efforts, Musk said, "Strangely, space exploration is one of the fields where AI is hardly used," and revealed, "SpaceX basically does not use AI." However, he clarified, "It's not that I oppose using AI; we just haven't found a use for it yet."

Musk warned that AI without safety measures could destroy civilization but also criticized excessive government regulation. He said, "People are not eternal, but laws can last forever," and criticized, "As years go by, more laws and regulations are passed, and more regulatory agencies are created, eventually making everything illegal." Musk had relocated Tesla's headquarters to Texas in 2021 to avoid California's tax and regulatory environment.

Musk also spoke about the issues of birth rates and illegal immigration. He said, "I lose sleep worrying about civilizational risks like the sharp decline in birth rates," warning, "If the decline in birth rates continues, our civilization will groan and slowly die." Michael Milken, chairman of the Milken Institute who led the conversation with Musk, echoed, "Countries like Korea, which once had a birth rate of 6, now have 0.72."

However, Musk confirmed a tough stance on the issue of illegal immigration in the United States. He said, "Allowing large-scale immigration without limits is a path to disaster," and stated, "I support significantly expanding legal immigration while strengthening security at the southern border." Additionally, Musk stressed, "Humanity must create a multiplanetary civilization where we live on planets other than Earth."

Meanwhile, the Milken Global Conference is an international event held annually at the end of April by the Milken Institute, founded by Michael Milken, known as the 'Junk Bond King' on Wall Street. It is also called the American version of the Davos Forum. About 4,000 participants, including high-ranking officials from various countries, as well as figures from business, finance, and academia, gather to discuss a wide range of topics such as the global economy, financial markets, environment, and culture.