Brian Eno is “seriously troubled” about who controls AI
Musical innovator Brian Eno has provided his thoughts on artificial intelligence, revealing his one worry about technological advancement.
As an artist who has constantly pushed boundaries in his career, unsurprisingly, Eno is largely supportive of the breakthrough. In a new interview, the former Roxy Music member explained why he doesn’t feel people have a right to understand the mechanisms of how it works, but did express one fear relating to AI.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Eno said, “we should be quite used to the idea that most of the systems we use are beyond our understanding” and used aeroplanes as an example. The English musician claimed this is one criticism of AI “we can disregard” before saying he doesn’t believe it will “control us and replace us”.
However, Eno went on to express concern in one area, noting: “Well, the only thing that really worries me about AI is who owns it. And if it’s in the hand of Silicon Valley frat boys, I’m seriously troubled. If it’s in the hands of people like [Mark] Zuckerberg and [Elon] Musk and all that other group of people, then I think we’re in trouble because I don’t trust them to make the momentous decisions that they’re being called upon to make.”
Eno continued: “In a way, the mistake is a social one. We should not have allowed a situation where those very big decisions, which will affect all of our futures quite a lot, are in the hands of a very small number of completely unelected people. I didn’t vote for Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk.”
“I admire them in many ways and think they must be very clever guys. But to find that our societies are being pretty much run by their particular preferences and prejudices is worrying, I think,” he concluded.
The artist was speaking ahead of the premiere of the new documentary, Eno, which was recently shown at Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Gary Hustwit directs the film and employs a new form of generative software which ensures each viewing of Eno differs, despite the narrative remaining the same.
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