Dear Mr. Musk,
Thank you for alerting us to the need for regulation around AI. I would add that to preserve our spirit as relentless explorers, dreamers and innovators, we need not just more regulation, but also education. And education not just for the elite few, but for everyone, and especially our children.
I agree that AI is a force that very few of us even understand. As a parent I am scared about what problems my daughters will have to tackle when they are grown women.
But that means we need to harness the most powerful, positive force we know today — education — to protect, preserve, nourish, grow, dream and explore.
We live in an age of acceleration today that is stretching the limits of what our ancient brains can cope with. But the answer is not just to increase regulations to protect us, but to do the really hard thing - to educate the public on how these technologies work, to help them understand the powers of these technologies so that we are not depending on regulators to protect us.
And it is not hard. It just requires a long-term vision and courage. And it is definitely easier than going to Mars ;)
Here is how we can go about preserving our world, and inspiring the next generation - not with a message of fear - but with an open call to innovation.
- Step 1: Launch a global “AI for Good” design challenge competition with three levels - inviting elementary, middle and high school students to solve problems that they see around them using AI technologies (not just software, but also hardware).
- Step 2: To make sure students come up with interesting, action-able ideas, we need to develop supporting courses for each level (as well as training for their mentors and parents). This can take the shape of a 60-100 hour curricula. Make the curricula open-ended, project based, world-class - and completely open-source. Invite top industry experts to go through a technical communication course so that they can contribute effectively and grow this base of curricula. This will ensure the tooling can keep up with the technologies.
- Step 3: Partner with universities all over the world to engage their undergraduate and graduate students to mentor teams of elementary, middle and high school students participating in the AI for Good design challenge. The university students should earn course credit for doing this.
- Step 4: To ensure a true diversity in ideas, provide special funding and training for groups in developing countries so that they have the resources they need to make their voices heard.
In the words of the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland, “…it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.”
But in 5-6 years this approach will most likely reach 200,000-500,000 students worldwide, and will change the way the larger public will think about AI. It will cost you $20 million or 40 cents per student-hour. That is a bargain.
Children will grow up familiar with the fundamental elements of machine learning, neural networks, autonomous vehicles and what roles they can play alongside fast evolving technologies. Most importantly they will receive the practical message that as a society we need to embrace the new normal of lifelong learning. They will be empowered to use AI for good.
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less” - Marie Curie, physicist and first woman to win the Nobel Prize
Sincerely
A parent