At a summit dominated by talk of AI and its unlimited potential, the highlight of the final day of the World Government Summit was Elon Musk, who has publicly expressed concerns about the potential dangers of advanced AI, saying the world must put the brakes on AI and the technology needs to be regulated. 

While Musk is known for his support and development of AI, he has earlier warned people about the dangers of AI-powered robots, even predicting scary outcomes like in the Hollywood blockbuster The Terminator.

During his 30-minute talk with Mohammad Al Gergawi, the UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs, the Tesla and SpaceX owner, who spoke remotely, said: “Artificial intelligence is something we need to be quite concerned about.” 

“ChatGPT has illustrated to people just how advanced AI has become… And there are much more advanced versions that are coming out.”

He said AI must be regulated safely as it is a bigger risk than cars, planes or medicine,” which have regulatory bodies to oversee public safety. 

Last year, after taking control of Twitter, the billionaire called the social network a “collective super-intelligence,” which could be humanity’s hope against the rise of AI.

Often criticized for arbitrarily banning users (and then coming up with excuses to justify the bans after the fact), Musk, while discussing the evolving role of social media platforms, said: “Having some criticism is fine. I don’t mind. I have to be thick-skinned.”

In another session, another leader stressed that adopting AI technologies has become inevitable and is no longer an option. In a session titled Future Cities: A City Without Boundaries, Dawood Al Hajri, Director General of Dubai Municipality, said two-thirds of the world had imbibed AI and advanced technology. “Food security technology is advancing as well and should reverse millions of people suffering hunger every day around the world.”

With 2023 slated as the year of Sustainability and UAE holding COP 28, “we are going to achieve much more strides in creating a sustainable city. What we need today is common governmental cooperation,” he added.

In a session titled Hosting Major Events: An Arab Success Story, Nasser Al Khater, CEO of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, said the event was a success for Arab countries. “We were the first country to bring back the fans to the stadium. We had several guidelines that FIFA and other organizations used for other events.”

Expo in Dubai and World Cup in Qatar are events that will take time to replicate, added Al Khater.