“It took us maybe a century to adapt to the industrial revolution. We may have just about a few years to adapt to the AI revolution, and I’m not sure we are – certainly not in curbing the curses,” Israeli Prime Minister says.
By Ben Rappaport, United with Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday held a live conversation with Tesla Motors CEO and entrepreneur Elon Musk at the Tesla Motors plant in Fremont, California, as the prime minister kicks off a diplomatic visit to the United States.
The two discussed the development of artificial intelligence and its implications for the future, which Prime Minister Netanyahu defined as “the blessing and curse” of our time. He said he appreciates Musk’s “commitment to free speech”,and his “opposition to antisemitism.”
Following the conversation, there was an expanded discussion with the participation of Open AI President Greg Brockman and MIT Professor Max Tegmark. Among the issues raised were the implications of artificial intelligence for the labor market of the future, including negative implications and how to prevent them.
Netanyahu said that he would like the State of Israel to be among the leaders in the field.
He warned that “It took us maybe a century to adapt to the industrial revolution. We may have just about a few years, and then we’re running out as we speak, to adapt to the AI revolution, and I’m not sure we are – certainly not in curbing the curses” of AI.
“The first thing you can do is get like-minded states to agree on a code of ethics and a code of conduct and that’s pretty easy. We can do it among our countries, in our countries and between our countries. We can cooperate to ensure the blessings and curb the curses as much as we can. We do that in civil aviation; we do it in other things, too.”
“I appreciate the opportunity to pick your brain on something that is so important for the future of my country and the future of the world,” Netanyahu told Musk.