Elon Musk said it’s unwise to kick robots in Joe Rogan podcast

Elon Musk, the CEO of
Tesla.
Scott Olson / Getty
Images

• Elon Musk said it is “probably not wise” to kick robots
  in a wide-ranging interview with Joe Rogan.
• Musk, who has famously voiced concerns about AI, said
  he worries less about it now because he has adopted a more
  fatalistic attitude.
• He believes the danger with AI will come when people
  weaponise it against each other.

Robots are a bit like elephants, they never forget. That’s
according to Elon Musk at least.

Musk expanded on previous remarks about AI during two-and-a-half-hour
long podcast the “Joe Rogan Experience,” presented by
comedian and former UFC commentator Joe Rogan.

Rogan joked about animal protection group PETA
putting out a statement that you shouldn’t kick robots, in
reference to footage of Boston Dynamics robots being kicked
around by engineers to test their sturdiness.

And engineers are not the only culprits, Starship Technologies’
food-delivery robots are sometimes kicked by members of the
public, the company’s cofounder told Business Insider in
June.

“It’s probably not wise,” said Musk, as Rogan laughed. “Their
memory is very good.”

Musk’s fears on the subject of AI are well documented, but he
told Rogan that he worries about it less these days because he
has adopted a “fatalistic attitude.”

“It’s not necessarily bad, it’s just it’s definitely going to be
outside of human control,” he said. According to Musk the big
danger going forward will be that people will weaponize AI, and
in July he
signed a pledge along with various other tech leaders never
to develop lethal autonomous weapons.

AI has already been weaponised to an extent, and has military
applications such as targeting software in drones. It also has
vast potential for weaponisation in cyberspace, and
an Oxford professor told Business Insider that this is where the
real danger lies, as it could autonomously escalate an
international conflict.

You can watch the full
Elon Musk
interview here: