Innovations related to artificial intelligence are already changing our lives, and in the foreseeable future they promise many revolutionary transformations.

At the same time, growing dissatisfaction worldwide is being fueled by the current behavior of technological oligarchs. In the United States, harsh criticism followed Tesla’s board decision to raise Elon Musk’s compensation for the next 10 years to $1 trillion: newspapers quickly calculated that he would receive $100 billion per year — $3 billion more than the combined salaries of 1.5 million elementary school teachers across the US. Meanwhile, his net worth as the world’s richest person already stands at $450 billion.

Speaking on November 19 in Washington at the US–Saudi investment forum, Elon Musk predicted that artificial intelligence and humanoid robots will transform society over the next 10–20 years: work will become optional, poverty will disappear, and money will no longer matter. “Essentially, there is only one way to make everyone rich — artificial intelligence and robotics,” he said.

Many people are irritated by the constant claims of these tech magnates that they provide an enormous service to humanity and that people should be “immeasurably grateful” to them. Here is what the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat wrote on November 20 in an article titled “Billionaires Mock Our Intelligence”: “The world’s billionaires have shifted from intellect to foolish cunning, trying to convince us that they have the solution to all the disasters they........

© New Eastern Outlook