The Uncanny Avengers #10
(Marvel Comics, August 2016)
Writer: Gerry Duggan
A visionary entrepreneur and technologist, Elon Musk, the owner of electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors, is worried about artificial intelligence. Mr Musk is reported by Wired magazine to have this year funded $10 million towards AI safety research.
The concept of artificial intelligences seizing control of the planet has spawned very successful science fiction movies. Perhaps the best example is the cold malevolence of the sentient Skynet military system in the “Terminator” movies (1984, 1991, 2003, 2009, 2015). Upon becoming sentient, Skynet decides the best way of dealing with humans is to initiate a nuclear war. The other popular example is “The Matrix” trilogy of motion pictures (1999-2003), where artificial intelligences farm the vestiges of humanity as a type of biofuel, trapping each person’s mind in an illusory reality while their bodies are leached of electricity.