AI may surpass human intelligence in five years — Elon Musk
By Taiwo Scholarstica
Artificial intelligence (AI) could surpass the combined intelligence of all humans within the next five years, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has predicted.
Musk made the prediction while speaking in an interview with The Economist published on Thursday, warning that the rapid progress of artificial intelligence may be difficult, if not impossible, to halt.
According to the billionaire, AI could eventually outperform humans in almost every area, although he suggested that the technology may not be able to replicate the experience of being human.
“I think AI may exceed the sum of human intelligence in around five years. There really won’t be anything that AI can’t do better than humans, apart from being human, perhaps,” he told The Economist.
Musk said the advancement of AI was more likely to usher in a period of extraordinary abundance than lead to widespread destruction, with technology potentially making it possible for people to access solutions to nearly every material need.
“The most likely outcome is an age of amazing abundance, where anyone can have anything they can think of. This may sound preposterous, but here we are in 2026, let’s see where we stand in 2036,” he added.
The tech entrepreneur also acknowledged that the momentum driving the development of AI had become too powerful for any single person or organisation to control, including himself.
Musk has repeatedly warned about the potential dangers posed by artificial intelligence and advanced robotics. However, he said he had reached a point where he had accepted that the technology would continue to develop.
“I still think there’s risk associated with AI and robots. It’s not zero. I guess I’ve come to my philosophical conclusion to look on the bright side. I can’t see any way to really stop this incredible momentum of AI and robots,” he said.
“Let’s enjoy the ride is my philosophy at this point, because there seems to be just an inexorable progress here in AI and in robots that even if I wanted to stop it, I don’t, I couldn’t,” Musk added.
When asked whether he still believed there was a 10 to 20 per cent possibility that AI could lead to human extinction, Musk maintained that the risk existed but said his perspective on dealing with the threat had evolved.
He also advocated regular safety and security discussions among major AI companies, proposing weekly or bi-weekly meetings where competing firms could examine new AI models before they are made available to the public.
“The competitors can keep each other honest,” Musk said, arguing that AI companies were in a better position than governments to assess whether a new system could create security concerns.
Musk called for the proposed safety measures to be introduced without delay, pointing to the speed at which new developments are emerging in the sector.
“There are so many AI breakthrough announcements, sometimes multiple per day,” he said.
However, some AI researchers have challenged Musk’s prediction, maintaining that current artificial intelligence systems still lack a complete understanding of the complexity and depth of human intelligence.