Russian President Vladimir Putin sat down for over two hours with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in a wide-ranging interview that captured the world’s attention, much to the chagrin of those seeking a continuation of the war in Ukraine — the conflict captured much of the focus, with Putin insisting that Russia was interested in a negotiated settlement (on their terms) and came close to reaching one with Ukraine until the West intervened.
There was an inciteful exchange toward the end of the interview involving billionaire Elon Musk, with Putin declaring “there’s no stopping” the South African-born entrepreneur who founded Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink, a neurotechnology company developing implantable brain–computer interfaces.
Carlson asked the Russian president about the start of the “AI (artificial intelligence) Empire,” drawing a chuckle from Putin as he replied, “You’re asking increasingly more complicated questions.”
PUTIN: “There are reports that Elon Musk has already had a chip implanted in the human brain in the USA”
TUCKER: “What do you think of that?”
PUTIN: “I think there’s no stopping Elon Musk. He will do as he sees fit. Nevertheless, you’ll need to find some common ground with him” pic.twitter.com/QV6JFw0uFg
— ALX (@alx) February 8, 2024
“To answer them, you need to be an expert in big numbers, big data, and AI,” Putin said. “Mankind is currently facing many threats. Due to the genetic researches, it is now possible to create a superhuman, a specialized human being. A genetically engineered athlete, scientist, military man.”
He added, “There are reports that Elon Musk had already had a chip implanted in the human brain in the USA.”
When asked his opinion of that, Putin spoke of the development in a similar light as the advancement of nuclear weapons, while admitting that Musk is not only intelligent but driven.
“I think there’s no stopping Elon Musk. He will do as he sees fit,” Putin said. “Nevertheless, you need to find some common ground with him, search for ways to persuade him. I think he’s a smart person. I truly believe he is. So you need to reach an agreement with him because this process needs to be formalized and subjected to certain rules.”
“Humanity has to consider what is going to happen due to the newest development in genetics or in AI,” he continued. “One can make an approximate prediction of what will happen. Once, mankind felt an existential threat coming from nuclear weapons. All nuclear nations began to come to terms with one another since they realized the negligent use of nuclear weaponry could drive humanity to extinction.”
Putin said an agreement on the regulation of AI will also be needed.
“It is impossible to stop research in genetics or AI today, just as it was impossible to stop the use of gunpowder back in the day,” he said. “But as soon as we realize that the threat comes from unbridled and uncontrolled development of AI or genetics or any other field, the time will come to reach an international agreement on how to regulate these things.”
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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