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Archive for the ‘Elon Musk’ category: Page 277

Aug 7, 2015

Ban Killer Robots before They Become Weapons of Mass Destruction

Posted by in categories: computing, Elon Musk, robotics/AI

Technology » Forum Email Print Ban Killer Robots before They Become Weapons of Mass Destruction By Peter Asaro | August 7, 2015 Vladislav Ociacia/Thinkstock SA Forum is an invited essay from experts on topical issues in science and technology. Last week the Future of Life Institute released a letter signed by some 1,500 artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and technology researchers. Among them were celebrities of science and the technology industry—Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak—along with public intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky and Daniel Dennett. The letter called for an international ban on offensive autonomous weapons, which could target and fire weapons without meaningful human control.

This week is the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, together killing over 200,000 people, mostly civilians. It took 10 years before the physicist Albert Einstein and philosopher Bertrand Russell, along with nine other prominent scientists and intellectuals, issued a letter calling for global action to address the threat to humanity posed by nuclear weapons. They were motivated by the atomic devastation in Japan but also by the escalating arms race of the Cold War that was rapidly and vastly increasing the number, destructive capability, and efficient delivery of nuclear arms, draining vast resources and putting humanity at risk of total destruction. They also note in their letter that those who knew the most about the effects of such weapons were the most concerned and pessimistic about their continued development and use.

The Future of Life Institute letter is significant for the same reason: It is signed by a large group of those who know the most about AI and robotics, with some 1,500 signatures at its release on July 28 and more than 17,000 today. Signatories include many current and former presidents, fellows and members of the American Association of Artificial Intelligence, the Association of Computing Machinery and the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society; editors of leading AI and robotics journals; and key players in leading artificial-intelligence companies such as Google DeepMind and IBM’s Watson team. As Max Tegmark, Massachusetts Institute of Technology physics professor and a founder of the Future of Life Institute, told Motherboard, “This is the AI experts who are building the technology who are speaking up and saying they don’t want anything to do with this.”

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Aug 1, 2015

Elon Musk: Tesla ‘almost ready’ to go driverless — Claudia Assis, Market Watch

Posted by in categories: driverless cars, Elon Musk, transportation

Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk said Friday the company is “almost ready” to make its cars go driverless on highways and parallel-park themselves

The much-awaited software update that would make Tesla TSLA, -0.24% vehicles able to steer themselves safely down the road has one more thing to sort out, Musk said in a tweet. Read more

Jul 27, 2015

AI and robotics researchers call for global ban on autonomous weapons

Posted by in categories: drones, Elon Musk, robotics/AI

More than 1,000 leading artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics researchers and others, including Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk, just signed and published an open letter from the Future of Life Institute (FLI) today calling for a ban on offensive autonomous weapons.

FLI defines “autonomous weapons” as those that select and engage targets without human intervention, such as armed quadcopters that can search for and eliminate people meeting certain pre-defined criteria, but do not include cruise missiles or remotely piloted drones for which humans make all targeting decisions.

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Jul 27, 2015

Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking Join Call for Ban on Artificially Intelligent Weapons

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, robotics/AI

Trying to kill the robotics/AI industry.


“It will only be a matter of time until they appear on the black market and in the hands of terrorists”

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Jul 26, 2015

Intelsat to FCC: For the love of satellites, STOP ELON MUSK! — Neil McAllister, The Register

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, satellites

https://lifeboat.com/blog.images/intelsat-to-fcc-for-the-love-of-satellites-stop-elon-musk-neil-mcallister-the-register.jpg

Elon Musk wants to use his commercial SpaceX rockets to put satellites into orbit that will bring broadband to the next billion, but one of SpaceX’s own customers has thrown a wrench into the works.

Musk’s plan involves encircling the globe with a few thousand high-capacity, low-latency satellites that the Tesla Motors boss says should be able to deliver broadband internet at speeds comparable to optical fibre. Read more

Jul 26, 2015

SpaceX ‘Complacent’ Before Rocket Explosion, Elon Musk Says — by Mike Wall, Space.com

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, space travel

http://i.space.com/images/i/000/048/994/i02/dragon-explosion.JPG?1437545318

The explosion of a SpaceX rocket during a space station resupply mission last month jolted the company awake in some ways, CEO and founder Elon Musk said.

Prior to the June 28 Falcon 9 rocket explosion — which ended the company’s seventh robotic cargo mission to the International Space Station less than 3 minutes after it blasted off — SpaceX had enjoyed a string of 20 straight successful launches over a seven-year stretch. Read more

Jul 19, 2015

Elon Musk: upgrade to Tesla Model S car makes it ‘faster than falling’ — Sam Thielman The Guardian

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, transportation

Elon Musk has made it official: his electric car company, Tesla Motors, is planning to debut an unnamed new Roadster in four years, and it won’t be based on the Lotus like the last one.

But Musk isn’t done with the old cars yet. The electric tech mogul held a press conference on Friday to tell reporters how fast his old car goes with its new upgrade: zero to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds, which would put the four-door sedan in a league with high-end sports cars like the most recent Lamborghini Murciélago. Read more