What Elon Musk Got Wrong With Artificial Intelligence
Experts agree that we may not be ready for fully autonomous solutions
By Anne Gherini
Herbert Simon, one the inventors of Artificial Intelligence (AI), once remarked, “Machines will be capable, within 20 years, of doing any work a man can do.” Simon made this forward-thinking statement in 1965. What Simon and the other AI proponents failed to appreciate are the numerous unforeseen challenges involved in relying solely on machines.
The AI field first emerged more than half a century ago. But it’s only been in the last ten years, due in large part to the rapid growth and democratization of machine learning, that we are starting to see the full potential of AI. Today, there are countless open-source AI tools that help any entrepreneur get up and running on AI quickly, including Google’s TensorFlow, Microsoft’s Cognitive Toolkit, and Amazon Machine Learning. These advancements have accelerated the transition from a model that involves AI assisting humans to one that involves humans assisting AI. This shift to requiring less human capital creates incredible opportunities for businesses to advance. Yet, many technology evangelists are pushing the needle even further and petitioning the eradication of human involvement.
