In 2050, when the computer overlords begin thinning the human population on Earth, Elon Musk will be laughing from his home on Mars.

Recently, the Tesla CEO called artificial intelligence an ”existential threat to human civilization.” That brought a retort from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, calling the rocket man’s comments “pretty irresponsible.”

Musk had said: “AI is a rare case where I think we need to be proactive in regulation instead of reactive. Because I think by the time we are reactive in AI regulation, it’s too late.”

How late?

“Until people see robots going down the street killing people, they don’t know how to react because it seems so ethereal,” Musk said.

But Monday on Facebook Live, Zuckerberg said: “I think that people who are naysayers and kinda of try to drum up these doomsday scenarios — I just don’t understand it. I think it’s really negative and in some ways I actually think it is pretty irresponsible.

“In the next five to 10 years, AI is going to deliver so many improvements to our lives. (…) If you’re arguing against AI, then you’re arguing against safer cars that aren’t going to have accidents, and you’re arguing against being able to better diagnose people when they are sick.”

But first we’ll have humanity divided into the Musk and Zuckerberg camps, where these thought leaders debate the fate of AI and humanity.

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