Tesla accident sent AI anxiety up
For some, artificial intelligence (AI) turning sentient is a matter of when, not if. An incident at a Tesla factory in the US two years ago that just came to light has stirred up fears of AI-run robots acting on their own accord already. As reported, a robot designed to move aluminium car parts pinned an engineer to a surface and dug its claws into his back and arm, leaving a trail of blood.
The purported assault stopped when a co-worker shut the machine down. As eerie as that may sound, this isn’t an early sign of machines itching to rise against humans. Tesla chief Elon Musk didn’t deny the human injury, but sought to reassure the world that it involved “a simple industrial Kuka robot arm" found in many factories, and not Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid.
In other words, it was just another industrial accident. The victim just hadn’t realized the machine wasn’t switched off. So, the contraption may have done exactly what it was programmed to do, with no harm intended.
Read more on livemint.com
