That flipping robot sparks new warning from Elon Musk about an AI apocalypse

Boston Dynamics' video of a humanoid robot executing a perfect backflip sparked a lot of dark humor, and now billionaire Elon Musk has responded with dark seriousness about the risks posed by super-intelligent, super-agile bots. Musk suggested that future robots could move so fast they could match the fictional Flash, who eludes his comic-book foes by moving too fast for the eye to see. Compared to that superpower, doing human-level backflips is "nothing," Musk said in a tweet: In a few years, that bot will move so fast you'll need a strobe light to see it. Then Musk added a bit of explanation for those who didn't see where he was going: How would a strobe light help see anything? Otherwise you'd only see a blur The agility of Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot gave Musk another opportunity to touch on a theme he's been emphasizing for months: that the potential risks posed by the rapid rise of artificial intelligence are so great that a regulatory regime is needed: Got to regulate AI/robotics like we do food, drugs, aircraft & cars.