When Elon Met Jack: Musings on AI, Mars, the End of Civilization
- Tesla’s Elon Musk holds public debate with Alibaba’s Jack Ma
- Ma says AI isn’t a threat, Musk responds “famous last words”
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Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Chairman Jack Ma, two of the leading luminaries in the technology world, sparred against each other on Thursday on subjects ranging from the dangers of artificial intelligence, the need to explore Mars and the future of education.
Held at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, the rare debate between China’s richest man and one of America’s more controversial billionaires began with thoughts on AI -- Ma is betting humans will prevail over machines, while Musk fears doomsday is coming -- but the conversation, which went viral on social media, soon transgressed into areas such as Mars exploration and aliens.