It's an interesting question. "Intellectual terrorism" may not be that much of a stretch.
Nuclear power, for instance, received the same degree of FUD from uninformed commentators for decades that we're starting to see applied to ML and AI now. As a result, we clung to the precautionary principle and burned fossil fuels instead. The human toll associated with that decision, in terms of premature deaths and disabilities, will eventually run into the millions if it hasn't already.
I hope Elon Musk has thought his anti-AI arguments through farther than the activists and journalists of the 1960s and 1970s did. His voice is a powerful one with far-reaching influence. He could do a lot of good with it, or a lot of harm.
I feel like the parallel to the extended use of fossil fuels is really nice.
At the same time, the industries producing petroleum had a lot of incentive to do so. We can call this aggressive self preservation at best. At the worst, we can say they corrupted the media and global stability in order to do so. This is a very strong accusation, and not my point.
Musk and Friends finds themselves diametrically opposed to where the petroleum industries found themselves. Who then is taking the side of the petroleum industries in the AI case?
Nuclear power, for instance, received the same degree of FUD from uninformed commentators for decades that we're starting to see applied to ML and AI now. As a result, we clung to the precautionary principle and burned fossil fuels instead. The human toll associated with that decision, in terms of premature deaths and disabilities, will eventually run into the millions if it hasn't already.
I hope Elon Musk has thought his anti-AI arguments through farther than the activists and journalists of the 1960s and 1970s did. His voice is a powerful one with far-reaching influence. He could do a lot of good with it, or a lot of harm.