We need to shift the conversation around AI before Elon Musk dooms us all

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are playing clash of the tech titans with their views on AI. It's a battle being played out in hyperbole-driven headlines and clickbait-optimized soundbites, and it's currently unclear who, if anyone, will win. Unfortunately, all this buzz doesn't do much more than sensationalize the issue and polarize the public's perception of artificial intelligence. Instead of facilitating earnest dialog concerning the power, purpose, and potential perils of AI, they are using our social feeds to run self-interested marketing strategies that benefit themselves and the companies they run, while causing further confusion and uneducated speculation in their wake. Musk's stance that AI will ruin the world is not about furthering legitimate dialogue around AI. It's about monopolizing the limelight with apocalyptic stories while distracting and slowing down his opponents in the biggest technical arms race of the century.