Musk doesn't think we're prepared to face humanity's biggest threat: AI

The subjugation of humanity by a race of supersmart, artificially intelligent beings is something that has been theorised by everyone from generations of moviemakers to New Zealand's fourth most popular folk parody duo. But the latest prophet of our cyber-fueled downfall must realise why people would be inclined to take his warnings with a grain of silicon. He is, after all, the same guy who's asking us to turn over control of our cars - and our lives - to a bunch of algorithms. Elon Musk, who hopes that one day everyone will ride in a self-driving, electric-powered Tesla, told a group of governors on Saturday that they needed to get on the ball and start regulating artificial intelligence, which he called a "fundamental risk to the existence of human civilisation." When pressed for better guidance, Musk said the government must get a better understanding of the latest achievements in artificial intelligence before it's too late.