“Enjoy the Ride and Eat Bananas”

Illustration created with AI. Naturally.

A few thoughts about The Economist interview with Elon Musk.

Musk states that there is about a 20% chance that AI will wipe out humanity. Yet he proceeds with its active development. He does it “philosophically,” as if adding this word somehow lessened the gravity of the statement. As if “philosophically” absolved him from the horror of the assumed consequences.

Not only does he seem resigned to this rather high statistical possibility of calamity—or collective suicide—he actually seems to embrace it. With a smirk.

He says it, Zanny Minton Beddoes, the interviewer, hears it, we watch or read it, and... not much happens. What does that say about him, her, us? OK, she needs to keep the interview going. I understand that. A little bit.

But maybe that’s actually the most disturbing part. A man who is actively developing AI says, in effect, that there is a one-in-five chance this technology could destroy humanity—and the interview simply continues. He says it. She hears it. We hear it. And we move on to the next question. Somehow a possibility that should stop the conversation becomes just another talking point in a prestigious business interview. When did the possibility of human extinction become something we could absorb so casually?

Another scary thing about the interview is that he seems not to be saying what’s really on his mind. I just can’t buy that a guy with such a high IQ, a brilliant inventor and businessman, actually believes some of the stuff that comes out of his mouth.

So why does he say what he says? Why does he publicly state things that seem so illogical? One probably can’t build a space rocket with such a lack of clarity about the consequences of one’s actions. So either I am missing something in his reasoning, or he is withholding something about his real agenda.

What is that agenda? What is the purpose of taking the time to talk to The Economist? Is it simply to keep investors happy by advertising the product? Or is there something else?

Is it just basking in his own power? Is he auditioning? If so, for whom? Is he advertising? If so, what exactly is he selling?

Musk suggests that since we can’t do much to contain the explosive rate of AI development, we should “enjoy the ride.” And since the gap between us and AI will become enormous, we should do what monkeys do in our presence: just “eat the bananas” when benevolent AI brings us universal high income—meaning a shitload of money for everyone without anyone having to work.

“Enjoy the ride.”

“Eat the bananas.”

But suppose we take his 20% seriously. Suppose he genuinely believes there is a one-in-five chance that the technology he is helping to develop could wipe us out. Then the obvious question is: what level of risk would make him stop? Twenty-five percent? Fifty percent? Ninety percent?

And if there is no percentage high enough to make him stop, then what exactly does the 20% mean? Is it a warning? A calculation? A disclaimer? Or simply another dramatic number thrown into the conversation while the development continues anyway?

That’s the guy who publicly and defiantly displayed what looked very much like a Nazi salute.