Elon Musk fears ‘Terminator’ robot apocalypse, advises careful use of 'AI, robotics'

Don't want to find ourselves self in James Cameron's Terminator; Musk cautions at AI, Robotics' use

Elon Musk fears a ‘Terminator’ robot apocalypse and advises for being careful about using AI and robotics technology.

While speaking at the World's Economic Forum (WEF) held at Davos this week, the world's leading businessman and entrepreneur expressed his vision about the future of technology linked.

Elon Musk emphasized that the only way to live a quality life or high living standards is the use of latest technology: AI, robotics, etc.

While the SpaceX and Tesla owner encourages everyone to improve living standards by the use of AI and robotics, they are also advised to be cautious about their potential risks.

Musk jokes about the possible threats, hinting at the famous Hollywood movie, "the Terminator."

The Tesla and humanoid robot manufacturer said, "We need to be very careful with AI and robotics; we don’t wanna find ourselves in a James Cameron movie, you know, Terminator."

"He's got great movies. Love his movies, but we don't want to be in Terminator, obviously."

He further added, "If you had ubiquitous AI that is essentially free or close to it and ubiquitous robotics, then you have an expansion in the global economy that's truly beyond all precedents."

Why did Elon Musk link ‘Terminator’ to AI and robotics?

When director James Cameron’s The Terminator hit cinemas in 1984, it forever altered the landscape of science fiction.

Released about 40 years ago, the plot of the movie unfolds against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic future where an artificial intelligence (AI) defence network, Skynet, has turned against humanity. It triggers a nuclear holocaust and creates a dystopian world where machines hunt down the last remnants of human life.

Desperate to avoid defeat by the human resistance, Skynet sends a Terminator back in time.

This lifelike cyborg is almost indistinguishable from a person but superior in strength, agility, and intelligence.

Elon Musk’s vision for AI and robotics:

Musk unfolded his vision and new targets about robotics and AI at the World Economic Forum (WEF) to highlight future goals.

While highlighting his vision for 2026, Musk said that he expects robots to outnumber humans.

Elon Musk predicts a robot-majority future in his first Davos appearance.

Addressing WEF, Musk mentioned that Tesla expects to sell its Optimus humanoid robots to the public by the end of next year, 2027, later than the timeline he had previously outlined.

Industry experts and executives have said scaling humanoid robots for real-world use is technically complex, in part because of a lack of data needed ‍to train the AI models that underpin robot behavior.

Musk also predicted AI would become smarter than any individual human by the end of 2026 and surpass the collective intelligence of humanity within five years.