---
title: "Elon Musk: If You Don’t Think AI Could Outsmart You, You’re an Idiot"
description: "Elon Musk is once again warning about the perils of unregulated AI, saying that people who think AI couldn't fool them are fooling themselves."
date: "2020-07-23"
modified: "2020-07-23"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-ai-outsmart-idiot"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "Future Society"
  - "The Industrialists"
tags:
  - "artificial intelligence"
  - "elon musk"
  - "the digest"
---

# Elon Musk: If You Don’t Think AI Could Outsmart You, You’re an Idiot

![Elon Musk is once again warning about the perils of unregulated AI, saying that people who think AI couldn't fool them are fooling themselves.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/elon-musk-ai-outsmart-idiot.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Images via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Big Brain

Elon Musk, who long been notorious for warning of the dangers of artificial intelligence, has a message to the doubters among us: They're not as clever as they think.

In the past, Musk has gone as far as to say that artificial intelligence is even more dangerous than nuclear war, *[Business Insider ](<https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-smart-people-doubt-ai-dumber-than-they-think-2020-7>)*[reports](<https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-smart-people-doubt-ai-dumber-than-they-think-2020-7>). One of his concerns is that AI will replace human workers. But he also frets that a Skynet-like AI will decide it [no longer needs humans](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-communicate-slowly-future-ai>) at all.

"I've been banging this AI drum for a decade," Musk told *Business Insider*.

## Cognitive Trap

Musk's latest warning is that smart people who assume they could never be fooled by a machine are in effect lowering their guard to any [AI trickery](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-ai-manipulate-social-media>) coming their way.

"We should be concerned about where AI is going," Musk told *Business Insider*. "The people I see being the most wrong about AI are the ones who are very smart, because they can't imagine that a computer could be way smarter than them. That's the flaw in their logic. They're just way dumber than they think they are."

## Alarm Bells

Musk's fears aren't always shared among his peers, especially since he sometimes makes them [alongside unsupported claims](<https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/17/537686649/elon-musk-warns-governors-artificial-intelligence-poses-existential-risk>) to have seen dangerous, secret AI research that others don't know about.

But the severity of his warnings aside, Musk's solution seems reasonable: Greater regulation and oversight for AI development would be an important safeguard against abusive or irresponsible technology.

**READ MORE:** [Elon Musk said people who don't think AI could be smarter than them are 'way dumber than they think they are'](<https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-smart-people-doubt-ai-dumber-than-they-think-2020-7>) \[*Business Insider*\]

**More on Elon Musk:** *[Reddit Co-founder Mocks Elon Musk’s Warnings About AI](<https://futurism.com/reddit-cofounder-mocks-elon-musks-ai-warnings>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)