Elon Musk and PM Rishi Sunak’s Tense Exchange on AI’s Future and Regulation

Tech billionaire Elon Musk was interviewed by none other than the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak.

Musk sat down for a very interesting interview where Sunak put plenty of pressure in terms of giving the Tesla CEO a long list of questions that he felt were necessary for Musk to address.

The very bizarre chat’s theme was the future of AI and the pair seemed to work their way through smiles and some uncomfortable moments as Musk was grilled about his thoughts on the matter. And what better way to end the week-long summit linked to artificial intelligence than this?

But if you think the world’s richest person couldn’t hold his ground, that was not the case. He held court and really did give some power-packed responses about technology and its role in terms of transforming people’s daily lives.

The duo began with discussions on London serving as the top hub for today’s AI industry and how it really is altering the landscape for learning. But then all of a sudden, we saw the conversations taking a new and darker turn out of nowhere.

This was when the PM spoke about how much uncertainty has entered the lives of working professionals, thanks to AI, and how worried they are that AI could steal their means of livelihood.

Another point of discussion was how important it was to have the right type of regulation in place and the need for referees that ensure super-computers don’t get out of hand. After all, who better to comprehend the subject better than Musk himself who has invested serious funds into several AI companies and hired the technology to fuel his electric cars.

Similarly, he’s making records about the great fear attached and how it just might serve as a risk for society and humankind too.

Speaking to the audience with great confidence, Musk says the safety element is concerning and that’s true when you’re dealing with robots in human form. And he also reminded the PM that cars are safer as they don’t chase you. But that left the leader far from impressed and he taunted Musk by claiming he’s not selling that. Clearly, we’ve never seen any PM for that matter talk business the way Sunak did and it had Musk sweating in some instances.

Musk did have some of his own moments where he laughed off a lot of the comments being made but overall, he did speak a lot about the future and how AI is really transforming people’s lives for the better. But were we surprised? Not really, Musk is known for his antics and quick way to get the conversation started and going on for days.

The event featured live guests and while it was definitely shocking to see how no cameras were allowed to enter inside at the same time, we did have quite a few reporters getting permission to observe.

However, it was not fun for the journalists inside who ached to ask Musk or the PM their own queries on the subject but were barred from doing so.

Musk then went on to detail more about how AI is so beneficial and that’s when the billionaire gave his own son’s example about having trouble making friends. On that note, the Tesla CEO says AI steps in and may prove to be a better friend than any normal human being could be.

Then discussions arose about AI serving as a revolutionizing factor in the world of education and really impacting people’s learning for the better as it could be a patient and understanding tutor.