Elon Musk certainly keeps a diversified portfolio.
In addition to pushing the envelope with electric cars (Tesla), space exploration (SpaceX), solar power (SolarCity) and more, the billionaire businessman continues to try to keep AIs safe and beneficial to humans.
After donating $10 million to the Future of Life Institute (FLI), an organization trying to prevent potential hazards of artificial intelligence, this past January, the Institute has reviewed 300 teams research proposals and has made a decision. FLI will grant $7 million from Musk and the Open Philanthropy Project to 37 projects over the next three years.
According to reports, some researchers want to teach AI about body language, while another wants AIs to explain decisions to humans and one aims to simply keep robotic and AI weapons under human control.
"The danger with the Terminator scenario isn't that it will happen, but that it distracts from the real issues posed by future AI," FLI president Max Tegmark told Engadget. "We're staying focused, and the 37 teams supported by today's grants should help solve such real issues."
Of the $7 million, the biggest amount ($1.5 million) pitches a joint Oxford-Cambridge research center to study the long-term results of AI.
The news of Musk's grant towards keeping artificial intelligence safe towards humans comes just one week after his Tesla company proudly announced that its drivers have surpassed one billion electric miles. That's equivalent to 570,000 tons of prevented carbon dioxide emissions from filling the air.
Musk made strides with electric cars. Who's to say he can't amongst AI research, too?
