Tech pioneers like Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking, and Elon Musk have warned humanity of the dangers of AI for years, and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says he’s finally a beliver in the doomsday scenarios.
“Computers are going to take over from humans, no question,” Woz told the Australian Financial Review in a recent interview from his US home.
The man who sparked the personal computer revolution with the invention of the Apple II says ‘the future is scary and very bad for people’ because computers will eventually get faster than us and wipe us out.
“If we build these devices to take care of everything for us, eventually they’ll think faster than us and they’ll get rid of the slow humans to run companies more efficiently,” Woz said.
“Will we be the gods? Will we be the family pets? Or will we be ants that get stepped on? I don’t know about that.” explained Woz, who then noted our eventual demotion to the bottom of the food chain reminds him to be really nice to his pet dog.
Woz also talked about rumors of Apple’s car project, saying it’s “perfect territory” for Apple. When it comes to the gold Apple Watch though, Woz isn’t sold just yet.
“If you buy the really high-priced ones, the jewelry ones, then you’re not buying a smartwatch that has a bunch of apps. Like a Rolex watch, you’re buying if for prestige and a label and a symbol of who you are.” said Woz. “The fact is the difference between a $10,000 watch and a $17,000 dollar watch is only the band, and for an engineer like me I don’t live in that world, that’s not my world.”
