Humans are 'already cyborgs' because of reliance on machines, claims Elon Musk
It's been a fear of the general public for decades — that robots will take over the world and humanity will cease to exist in its natural form.
Many horror movies and science fiction books have harped on that anxiety over the years.
Elon Musk seems to believe that humanity is already on its way toward being overrun by technology.
In a recent tweet, the Twitter CEO, who has historically experimented with artificial intelligence in his companies SpaceX and Tesla, claimed that humans are "already cyborgs" because of how much they rely on computers.
"Our memory is overwhelmingly outsourced to computers – they remember everything with extreme precision down to the pixel," he tweeted.
Bird charity banned from Twitter for repeatedly posting woodcock photosHis post was in response to a tweet by Marc Andreessen, a self-proclaimed "AI accelerationist" and the co-founder and general partner in Andreessen Horowitz, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that "backs bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology," its website states.
The American entrepreneur recently published an article on his company's website titled "Why AI Will Save The World" and promoted it on Twitter.
"Ask Me Anything about AI, or any of the topics in Why AI Will Save The World, as responses to this tweet and I will answer as many as I can," he tweeted.
User @FlynnVIN10 responded and asked: "Is anyone calculating metrics for how much you are already A.I.?"
The billionaire has historically spoken out against AI, telling the Wall Street Journal's Thorold Barker that the technology has "a small likelihood of annihilating humanity," Insider reported.
He also signed an open letter to "pause giant AI experiments" in March.
Musk asked his own question under Andreessen's tweet: "How many years do we have before AI kills us all?"
The CEO then proceeded to get into a spat with an AI-run account, @AskTheWassie.
Elon Musk cleared by jury of deceiving Tesla investors over 2018 tweetsAnother Twitter user, @ScepticalAussie, argued that people outsourcing their memories is nothing new — humanity has been using calendars, paper, calculators or abacuses for millennia, she argued.
Musk said the straits aren't yet dire, however.
"Our thinking is much less outsourced, as there are still many things we can do that AI cannot. For now," he said.