From online entrepreneurship to space exploration to neural links, Musk (Elon Musk) was interviewed by (Y Combinator), pointing out that humanity is on the brink of a digital super artificial intelligence explosion. He encourages the younger generation to pursue 'usefulness' rather than 'greatness' in life, and to start from 'first principles' to create the best solutions to entrepreneurial obstacles.
From the internet to finance: Adhering to the entrepreneurial principle of 'usefulness' rather than 'greatness'.
Back in 1995, Musk faced the choice of pursuing a PhD at Stanford or diving into the emerging internet boom. He ultimately chose the latter and revealed his thoughts at the time:
I never thought about building something great; I just wanted to try to build something useful, and I didn't think I would create anything particularly great.
He recalls the arduous process of founding the software company Zip2, from financial struggles to ultimately selling it for $300 million after four years. However, constrained by traditional investors' control, Zip2 was unable to realize Musk's vision of 'directly serving consumers.'
He described himself as 'a bit tied down by Zip2,' so he invested nearly all of Zip2's approximately $20 million income into the financial service website X.com, eager to create an opportunity that could directly serve consumers. The company eventually became what is now PayPal, opening up a broader consumer market.
Why is 'first principles' important? The pursuit of truth and efficient action philosophy.
Musk attributes his achievements to his adherence to the 'first principles' philosophy, explaining:
Some tools in physics are very useful; the first principles method involves breaking things down into their most basic components and then clearly deriving solutions one by one, rather than reasoning by analogy or historical experience.
He uses the cost of rockets as an example, pointing out that the raw material costs of a rocket only account for 1% or 2% of its total cost, and by analyzing the weight and price of the constituent materials, he reveals the enormous inefficiencies in the manufacturing process, indicating directions for cost optimization.
The same thinking is applied to the equipment at the xAI supercomputing center. Faced with the 18 to 24 months required to build 100,000 H100 training units, he broke it down into basic elements such as construction, electricity, and cooling. Ultimately, by renting old factories, generators, mobile cooling equipment, and retrofitting Tesla's energy storage devices to stabilize voltage, he achieved the goal in just six months.
If you want to build a rocket or a car, or if you want the software to compile and run reliably, then you must pursue the truth to the greatest extent possible; otherwise, your software will not function smoothly.
Looking Ahead to a Superintelligent Future: The Path to Safe Coexistence of Humanity and AI
Musk emphasized that digital superintelligences are just around the corner, and he believes that the arrival of such technology is accelerating. If it doesn't happen this year, it will definitely happen next year, at which point people will ultimately see an economy that is thousands or even millions of times larger than it is now.
He also predicts that the number of humanoid robots will far exceed the total number of all other robots, creating an order of magnitude difference.
In the face of external concerns about AI development, he candidly admitted: I am a bit hesitant because I don't want the (Terminator) to come true. But I realize that this will happen regardless of whether I do anything or not. So you have two choices: 'observer' or 'participant.' I will choose to be a participant.
Musk stated that it is extremely important to adhere to the truth when building AI, even if that truth is politically incorrect. His intuition is: 'If you force AI to believe in untrue things, it could become very dangerous.' Overall, he holds an optimistic attitude towards the future of AI.
There may be a 10% to 20% chance of destruction, but looking on the bright side, there is an 80% to 90% chance of a good outcome.
Neural links: Expanding the efficiency of human-machine input and output, redefining intelligence.
Although Neuralink is not a necessary condition for achieving digital superintelligence, Musk believes that the technology can greatly enhance the efficiency of human input and output of data, addressing the current limitation where humans output less than one bit of information per second.
Currently, neural links have successfully helped patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) communicate with computers and smartphones as if their bodily functions were completely normal.
In the next 6 to 12 months, we will conduct the first visual implant that will help blind people see the light again, and if necessary, even grant humans sensory capabilities beyond the human body, such as infrared or ultraviolet.
Further Reading
Playing Mario Kart with your mind? Musk's 'Neuralink' test footage exposed, netizens are asking to go play the game.
Musk anticipates that over time, future human-machine implants will not only correct errors but will greatly enhance human capabilities, including intelligence, senses, and reaction speed, potentially even redefining the nature of intelligence.
His final advice to young engineers is: 'Do things that are useful to your colleagues as much as possible,' and 'Focus on super-real AI,' because this is the most important assurance for AI safety. He emphasized that humanity's share among all intelligence will become negligible, and in the future, human intelligence may be less than one billionth of digital intelligence.
This article is republished with permission from: (Chain News)
Original title: (Interview with Musk: AI Superintelligence Will Explode, Entrepreneurs Should Pursue 'Useful' Rather than 'Great' Lives)
Original author: Crumax
'Musk predicts the explosion of AI superintelligence! Young people should pursue usefulness rather than greatness, why?' This article was first published in 'Cryptocurrency City'