Elon Musk: Advanced Artificial Intelligence Could Destroy The Internet

Elon Musk is one of the most influential tech giants in the world right now, thanks to his many achievements and endeavors, including Tesla Motors, Space X, and Solar City. So when a man like that warns that a super advanced artificial intelligence could kill the internet, it’s worth taking a note. According to Musk, it’s only a matter of time before one does.

Humanity has relied on artificial intelligence for years in order to accomplish many things, but no piece of technology has benefited from it more than the internet. Now, it is under threat by the very thing that allows it to function so effectively. Musk recently warned the world that an AI attack that could bring down the whole internet is coming, Futurism reports, and it is coming soon.

Musk delivered his warning via a series of Tweets, much like how he has been teasing people about new innovations that he was about to unveil in the past. The Tweets were also a reaction to the recent widespread DDoS attack that momentarily crippled a significant part of the internet’s infrastructure, where hackers used Internet of Things products as weapons.

“Only a matter of time before advanced AI is used to do this,” the Tweet reads. “Internet is particularly susceptible to a gradient descent algo.”

When another Twitter user asked Musk if this would lead to a conflict between two competing AIs, Musk responded that there was a good chance it could happen. Tesla is also using a form of AI to allow its vehicles to have self-driving capabilities, which means that its founder isn’t exactly averse to using the technology. On that note, it also means that he knows what he is talking about.

Inverse cited a recent report that was published on The Economist, warning that there are already groups of people learning to wield AI as a weapon of mass digital destruction. Coupled with Musk’s pronouncement that the world could be looking at a global internet wipeout through “gradient descent algo,” the attacks would only get stronger with every attempt.