This is me not putting it off. And it took listening to these two guys battle away on their philosophies to drive me to it. Like many people who feel a compulsion to distribute their views, I’ve continued to wait for an inspiration.

As I listened to Jack Ma and Elon Musk’s 2+ year-old one on one, I felt I was not only watching two of the biggest giants having it out, I was also listening to one of the most important philosophical disputes of the era.  And I thought, I need to weigh in on this.

And I gotta hand it to Elon… I think he nails it on so many fronts. While Jack Ma has a healthy and palatable view for the sponsorship of good human connections, Elon is impressively and selflessly honest.  We need to be super-vigilant about the technologies we’re building, lest they turn and eat us alive. And it’s almost inevitable that they will eat us alive.

I do not see any future that doesn’t include a crisis where humans confront a dangerous ai.

And here I am, leading a company that is building what will become a powerful ai assistant. How do I hold my passion for doing this, even while I see that ai could lead to humanity’s downfall?  Because I believe that the best ai’s will the ones developed by those who understand the risks, and design out the risks pre-emptively – making the effort to make the ai a true complement to the human journey, rather than a threat.

Dave