Search Search Tesla boss Elon Musk warns artificial intelligence development is 'summoning the demon' CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk / Getty The business magnate, inventor and investor has warned about artificial intelligence before 6169789578 Click to follow The Independent Tech Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has described artificial intelligence as a “demon” and the “biggest existential threat there is”, in his latest dramatic statement about technology.
 Addressing students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Musk said: “I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence.
 If I were to guess like what our biggest existential threat is, it’s probably that.
 “With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon.
 In all those stories where there’s the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, it’s like yeah he’s sure he can control the demon.
 Didn’t work out.
” The business magnate, inventor and investor, who is also CEO and CTO of SpaceX, and chairman of SolarCity, has warned about artificial intelligence before, which he believes could be more threatening than nuclear weapons.
 In August he tweeted: “Worth reading Superintelligence by Bostrom.
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 Google has reportedly set up an “ethics board” in wake of the purchases but concerns remain.
 Dr Stuart Armstrong, from the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, has warned that artificial intelligence could spur mass unemployment as machinery replaces manpower.
 He has also warned about the implications for uncontrolled mass surveillance if computers were taught to recognise human faces.