AI will be smarter than all of humanity within five years, says Elon Musk

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the fast growing technology that allows machines to think, learn and make decisions like humans. From smartphones to self driving cars, artificial intelligence is already shaping daily life. Recently, Elon Musk has issued a striking warning about just how quickly this technology is moving forward.

In his speech at the World Economic Forum, Musk stated that in the next five years, artificial intelligence could potentially become not just smarter than itself but even the whole human race. 

In conversation with Blackrock CEO Larry Fink, Musk pointed out the rapid advancements in computer capabilities and smarter systems developed in various industries, and that AI could possibly become even smarter than an individual in the latter half of this year or early next year.

Musk claimed, that the growth of artificial intelligence will not come through immediately but will take place in clear phases in the next ten years. He quotes that the growth of artificial intelligence is growing faster than people think, but software is definitely learning at a pace where the next big breakthrough is close as the artificial intelligence becomes more associated with the economy of the world.

In addition to this, Musk mentioned the parallel development of robotics. Tesla's humanoid robots, named Optimus, already perform menial tasks within factories. They should perform more complicated tasks before the end of the year but remain within industrial spaces.

Looking ahead, he also predicted humanoid robots may be ready for the public market as soon as next year. According to Musk, this change would occur when high standards are achieved in terms of safety, reliability and usefulness. He compared what the robots' capabilities would do, making one think that over time, users may request just about anything from them, similar to Tesla cars.