Musk on knowledge
It's not really about Musk...
I’m not much of a Musk follower. But the other day I was taken aback by this X-post:
My first thought: ‘just who the hell does he think he is? God?’
But actually, my outrage is less about the opinion and potential actions of one influential, wealthy and powerful person.
In this post Musk summarises everything that is troubling about the world of AI. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not opposed to using AI as a tool. I’m actually about to start working a lot more closely with AI than I have been over the last couple of years, and I’m looking forward to helping make AI work in my professional context.
And I know, soon we will be working with and taking AI for granted, just like we now take the internet for granted - something that simply didn’t exist when I grew up.
The internet was a quantum leap when it came to making knowledge more accessible, and arguably AI is an even bigger quantum leap. But like with all technology, there are downsides and dangers, and they need to be addressed.
In his post, Musk, probably without intending to, touches on fundamental questions about knowledge, truth and power.
My next thought was: ‘1984’, meaning George Orwell’s book 1984, in which the powers that be literally get history rewritten to suit their world view. Clearly, we will have to have some deep epistemological discussions if that book is to remain fiction.
We all need to put on our critical thinking hats.