--- title: "Elon Musk Thinks the First Mars Settler Could Be an AI" description: "## The MartAIn" date: "2018-12-29" modified: "2018-12-29" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-thinks-first-mars-settler-could-be-ai" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Mars" - "Space" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "artificial intelligence" - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Thinks the First Mars Settler Could Be an AI ![On Friday, Elon Musk speculated that a sophisticated artificial intelligence might touch down on the Red Planet before the first human Mars settler.]() *\Image: VCG/VCG via Getty Images/Victor Tangermann\* ## The MartAIn SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wants to establish a base on Mars — but he isn't sure its first resident will be human. On Friday, the mercurial billionaire [responded to a question]() on Twitter about whether a sophisticated artificial intelligence might touch down on the Red Planet before human colonists. [Musk's answer](): 30 percent. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1078177203592937472 ## AI Overlords Musk has a fraught relationship with the topic of AI. He's publicly warned about the danger's of [unregulated AI](), even going so far as to [found the organization Open AI]() to encourage the development of responsible machine learning systems. It's such a signature issue for Musk that other tech personalities have weighed in on his claims — including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who [said the notion]() of killer AI was "pretty irresponsible," and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who [quipped at an event]() earlier this month that Musk was "writing a great screenplay for a Black Mirror episode." ## Case For Optimism But Musk also believes that AI could be made to help humankind — or that the [two could even merge](), ushering in a new era of evolution. Or, as the Friday tweet shows, it seems that Musk could get on board with AI as long as it could help further his visions for the colonization of space. **READ MORE:** [Elon Musk Rates the Percent Chance That Mars' First Resident Is an A.I.]() \[*Inverse*\] ***More on Elon Musk:** [Musk: Tesla's Fully Autonomous Capabilities “About to Accelerate”]()* ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()