Elon Musk apparently doesn t want to do all the talking about the possible perils of artificial intelligence. So he s paid up.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has donated $10 million to the Future of Life Institute, which will establish a global research program aimed at keeping AI beneficial to humanity, FLI said in a statement announcing the funding today.
Musk confirmed the donation in a tweet this morning:
Funding research on artificial intelligence safety. It s all fun & games until someone loses an I
As we ve discussed on SiliconBeat, Musk has cited The Terminator as an example of AI gone awry. He has also called AI potentially more dangerous than nukes. Earlier this week, he joined Stephen Hawking and other scientists in signing a letter written by FLI calling for research into robust and beneficial artificial intelligence. Musk and Hawking are both listed as scientific advisory board members of FLI.
Others are delving into the possible rise-of-the-machine implications of artificial intelligence, too. As our own Steve Johnson wrote, Stanford University in December announced a century-long effort to study the social effects of AI.
Above: Elon Musk, left, and the Terminator, played by Arnold Schwarzenneger. (Photos by Nhat Meyer/Mercury News and the Associated Press, respectively)
