Elon Musk Thinks This 'Little Guy' Could Be Leader If AI Ever Takes Over: 'He Might Actually Be'

As artificial intelligence, or AI, continues to be the center of attraction among tech experts and netizens alike, Elon Musk, who initially lamented AI as “one of the biggest risks” to civilization, now thinks a “little guy” could be the leader of AI. But don’t worry, he might not be serious about it. 

What Happened: On Saturday, a Twitter troll account that goes by the handle @dogeofficalceo shared a picture of the iconic virtual assistant “Clippy” and stated, “If AI takes over, I hope this little guy is the leader.” 

Responding to the post, Musk wrote, “He might actually be.” 

See Also: Sundar Pichai Agrees With Sam Altman, Elon Musk: AI Is Too ‘Important Not To Regulate Well’

Not surprisingly, the possible good ending with “Clippy” started a memefest on Twitter.

Here’s how netizens reacted: 

For the unversed, Clippy, also known as Clippit, was a virtual assistant introduced by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the late 1990s as part of the Office Assistant feature in Office. While it gained some popularity, Clippy was eventually phased out due to mixed reception and criticism of its intrusive nature. 

The anthropomorphic paper clip was eventually removed from Microsoft Office in 2001. However, in 2021 it was reported that this playful animated paperclip character was making a comeback. 

Why It’s Important: AI taking over the world has become a concern for many people as they are worried that this cutting-edge technology will outsmart humans. 

About 61% of Americans think that AI could endanger the future of humanity — a concern that has been echoed by the likes of Musk, Geoffrey Hinton, also known as the “Godfather of AI,” Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and investment guru Warren Buffett.  

However, others like the godfather of virtual reality, Jaron Lanier, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Jürgen Schmidhuber, once described as the “Father of AI,” disagree with the sentiment.  

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