This is a clip from a conversation with Elon Musk from Nov 2019, his second appearance on the podcast. New full episodes are released once or twice a week and 1-2 new clips or a new non-podcast video is released on all other days. You can watch the full conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smK9dgdTl40
(more links below)

Podcast full episodes playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4

Podcasts clips playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeciFP3CBCIEElOJeitOr41

Podcast website:
https://lexfridman.com/ai

Podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes):
https://apple.co/2lwqZIr

Podcast on Spotify:
https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8

Podcast RSS:
https://lexfridman.com/category/ai/feed/

Note: I select clips with insights from these much longer conversation with the hope of helping make these ideas more accessible and discoverable. Ultimately, this podcast is a small side hobby for me with the goal of sharing and discussing ideas. I did a poll and 92% of people either liked or loved the posting of daily clips, 2% were indifferent, and 6% hated it, some suggesting that I post them on a separate YouTube channel. I hear the 6% and partially agree, so am torn about the whole thing. I tried creating a separate clips channel but the YouTube algorithm makes it very difficult for that channel to grow. So for a little while, I'll keep posting clips on this channel. I ask for your patience and to see these clips as supporting the dissemination of knowledge contained in nuanced discussion. If you enjoy it, consider subscribing, sharing, and commenting.

Elon Musk is the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and a co-founder of several other companies.

Subscribe to this YouTube channel or connect on:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman
- Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman
- Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman

So, on a darker topic, you've expressed serious concern about existential threats of AI.

It's perhaps 1 of the greatest challenges our civilization faces, but since I would say we're kind of an optimistic descendants of apes, perhaps we can find several paths of escaping the harm of AI.

So if I can give you 3 options, maybe you can comment which do you think is the most promising.

So 1 is scaling up efforts on AI safety and beneficial AI research in hope of finding an algorithmic or maybe a policy solution.

2 is becoming a multi-planetary species as quickly as possible.

And 3 is merging with AI and riding the wave of that increasing intelligence as it continuously improves?

What do you think is most promising, most interesting as a civilization that we should invest in?

I think there's a tremendous amount of investment going on in AI.

Where there's a lack of investment is in AI safety.

And there should be, in my view, a government agency that oversees anything related to AI to confirm that it does not represent a public safety risk.

Just as there is a regulatory authority for the Food and Drug Administration, there's NHTSA for automotive safety, there's the FAA for aircraft safety, where it generally comes to the conclusion that it is important to have a government referee or a referee that is serving the public interest in ensuring that things are safe when there's a potential danger to the public.

I would argue that AI is unequivocally something that has potential to be dangerous to the public and therefore should have a regulatory agency just as other things that are dangerous to the public have a regulatory agency.

But let me tell you, the problem with this is that it governs very slowly.

And the rate of, usually the way a regulatory agency comes into being is that something terrible happens.

And years after that, there's a regulatory agency or a rule put in place.

It was known for a decade or more that seat belts would have a massive impact on safety and save so many lives and serious injuries.

And the car industry fought the requirement to put seat belts in tooth and nail.

Hundreds of thousands of people probably died because of that.

And they said people wouldn't buy cars if they had seatbelts, which is obviously absurd.

You know, or look at the tobacco industry and how long they fought anything about smoking.

That's part of why I helped make that movie, Thank You for Smoking.

You can sort of see just how pernicious it can be when you have these companies effectively achieve regulatory capture of government, the bad.

People in the AI community refer to the advent of digital superintelligence as a singularity.

That is not to say that it is good or bad, but that it is very difficult to predict what will happen after that point.

And that there's some probability it will be bad, some probability it will be good.


Speaker 0: So, on a darker topic, you've expressed serious concern about existential threats of AI. It's perhaps 1 of the greatest challenges our civilization faces, but since I would say we're kind of an optimistic descendants of apes, perhaps we can find several paths of escaping the harm of AI. So if I can give you 3 options, maybe you can comment which do you think is the most promising. So 1 is scaling up efforts on AI safety and beneficial AI research in hope of finding an algorithmic or maybe a policy solution. 2 is becoming a multi-planetary species as quickly as possible.

And 3 is merging with AI and riding the wave of that increasing intelligence as it continuously improves? What do you think is most promising, most interesting as a civilization that we should invest in?

Speaker 1: I think there's a tremendous amount of investment going on in AI. Where there's a lack of investment is in AI safety. And there should be, in my view, a government agency that oversees anything related to AI to confirm that it does not represent a public safety risk. Just as there is a regulatory authority for the Food and Drug Administration, there's NHTSA for automotive safety, there's the FAA for aircraft safety, where it generally comes to the conclusion that it is important to have a government referee or a referee that is serving the public interest in ensuring that things are safe when there's a potential danger to the public. I would argue that AI is unequivocally something that has potential to be dangerous to the public and therefore should have a regulatory agency just as other things that are dangerous to the public have a regulatory agency.

But let me tell you, the problem with this is that it governs very slowly. And the rate of, usually the way a regulatory agency comes into being is that something terrible happens. There's a huge public outcry. And years after that, there's a regulatory agency or a rule put in place. Take something like seat belts.

It was known for a decade or more that seat belts would have a massive impact on safety and save so many lives and serious injuries. And the car industry fought the requirement to put seat belts in tooth and nail. That's crazy. Hundreds of thousands of people probably died because of that. And they said people wouldn't buy cars if they had seatbelts, which is obviously absurd.

You know, or look at the tobacco industry and how long they fought anything about smoking. That's part of why I helped make that movie, Thank You for Smoking. You can sort of see just how pernicious it can be when you have these companies effectively achieve regulatory capture of government, the bad. People in the AI community refer to the advent of digital superintelligence as a singularity. That is not to say that it is good or bad, but that it is very difficult to predict what will happen after that point.

And that there's some probability it will be bad, some probability it will be good. But obviously, I want

See all Lex Fridman transcripts on Youtube

Elon Musk: Regulation of AI Safety