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Elon Musk warns that artificial intelligence could turn into an "immortal dictator"

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Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Elon Musk seems determined to improve the world with technology, no matter what.

He's intent on exploring the solar system and travelling to Mars, and even built a huge battery which is powering a region of Australia.

However, one thing that he doesn't want the world to invest too heavily in is artificial intelligence - which he really, really doesn't like.

In the past, the South African entrepreneur has said that "AI is far more dangerous than nukes" and now he has delivered another chilling prophecy on the subject.

Musk features in the new documentary from director Chris Paine who previously spoke to the 46-year-old for his 2006 film Who Killed The Electric Car?

In his latest movie, Do You Trust This Computer? Paine explores the promising potentials and the alarming dangers of artificial intelligence. See the trailer below.

During the doc, Musk offers the notion that an AI built by a government could outlast any single party or politician and effectively become "an immortal dictator from which we would never escape".

If his dystopian vision were to come true it could unleash an entirely oppressive state that humans would be trapped in forever, leading to wars and, who knows, maybe even the apocalypse?

Yeah, that doesn't sound like the premise of The Terminator movies at all, does it?

Musk, who is the CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, feels so passionately about the topic and believes so strongly in the film that Mashable reports that he has paid for it to be available for free on Vimeo until Sunday evening.

Yet at the LA Premiere of the film on Thursday night, he urged the audience to take the message of the documentary on board and consider what AI could be doing to society.

It's a very important subject.

It's going to affect our lives in ways we can't even imagine right now.

HT Mashable

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