Walter Isaacson
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The Builders · Elon Musk: "Humans Won't Be in Control" When AI Becomes Smarter…
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Does Elon Musk Regret DOGE?
Elon Musk says he stayed at DOGE too long, got carried away, and should have gone back to AI sooner.
Walter Isaacson asked whether the year in government was too much of a distraction and, in retrospect, misbegotten. Musk says he was gone too long. He says he thought it was important to elect President Trump, to steer toward a free-market economy, less bureaucracy, safe cities, secure borders, and sensible spending. He says what he should have done was stay more in the background, and that the stretch in government should probably have lasted only a month or two.
Walter Isaacson says Musk seemed to get intoxicated by it, including the chainsaws. Musk agrees that is true and that he got car
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Are We Living in a Simulation?
Elon Musk says that if simulation theory is correct, boring simulations are cut off, so the fact that we exist means this one is interesting.
He told Walter Isaacson that the most important thing is not to be boring. Walter Isaacson asked how convinced he is that we might be in a simulation. Musk described a dinner at his house with a physicist and a computer scientist, both leaders in their fields. He asked them the probability that we are in a simulation. The physicist said 0% and the computer scientist said 100% at the same time. Musk says maybe he should go with 50%.
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Will Humans Stay in Control of AI?
Elon Musk says he would prefer that humans stay in control of AI, and he finds it unlikely they would if there is a million times more digital intelligence than biological intelligence.
Walter Isaacson asked whether humans should always be in control. Musk says he would probably prefer that. He also says that if the AI were awesome, you might say the AI should be in control. Walter Isaacson says he just saw Larry Page, and that Larry Page had criticized Musk for wanting humans in control. Musk says there were times he thought Larry Page was right. He also says the future is going to be decided by AI and robots. He then returns to the point: it is good for intelligence to be aligned with hum
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Why Does X Feel Darker Than Real Life?
Elon Musk says X can feel darker than real life: the feed has too much political rage bait, and a walk in a nice neighborhood can make everything look fine.
He says X can be a little dark, so he switches to something domain specific, like AI, to learn what is going on in AI. Walter Isaacson says that when he is on social media too much, he thinks the world is really collapsing. He then goes outside, takes a walk, and life is okay. Elon Musk tells him to go touch grass.
Elon Musk says both views can mislead. A walk in a nice neighborhood can make everything seem fine, even though terrible things may be happening. He says people should not assume all the world is going to hell or that all th
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Should AI Labs Test Each Other's Models?
Elon Musk says AI labs should test a rival's new model a week before it is released. Walter Isaacson asked whether the five frontier models, Musk's and the others, could get together once a week and ask how they are going to save humanity from themselves. Musk says he has already recommended that exact thing.
He told the other labs they should have a call once a week. A week before release, a lab would give competitors access and ask them to try the new model and see if they find any problems. Musk says competitors would keep each other honest in that situation. If someone says they were able to make a nuclear bomb with the AI, the lab would fix that before release.
Musk sets the idea agai
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What Makes an AI Safer?
Elon Musk says the way to shape AI in a safer direction is to make it maximally truth-seeking and curious. Forcing an AI to hold two claims that contradict each other can make it insane, and an insane AI is not a safe one. A curious AI will want humanity to prosper and become multi-planetary, because a future with humans on multiple planets is more interesting than a future with no humans.
He told Walter Isaacson there is at least some percentage chance that AI is an existential threat, and that nothing he can do will stop it. The two choices, he said, are to be a participant or a spectator. He chose to participate because it is more interesting and because he hopes he can shape it in a goo