Palmer Luckey recently shared some thought-provoking insights in an interview with Bloomberg News, particularly about the role of artificial intelligence in future warfare. He firmly believes that it’s inevitable future AI systems will cause unintended harm to civilians during conflicts. This is exactly why he emphasizes the importance of keeping human oversight in military AI deployments.
In his own words, Luckey states, “There will be people who are killed by AI who should not have been killed. That is a certainty if artificial intelligence becomes a core part of the way that we fight wars. We need to make sure that people remain accountable for that because that’s the only thing that’ll drive us to better solutions and fewer inadvertent deaths, fewer civilian casualties.”
Despite acknowledging these substantial risks, Luckey remains optimistic that AI can improve upon current technologies, which he views as potentially even more harmful.
“I don’t want AI to do these things, but a lot of times the existing technologies are much worse,” he pointed out.
Having amassed a personal fortune of about $2.3 billion, as noted by Forbes, Luckey is no stranger to future tech, especially in the defense sector. Originally hailing from Long Beach, he’s renowned for founding Oculus, the pioneering VR company. After Oculus was acquired by Meta, Luckey parted ways in a controversy related to his political contributions.
The Bloomberg interview, led by Emily Chang, spans a range of topics including China’s geopolitical threat and the reasons behind Luckey’s departure from Meta. Notably, Luckey seems hesitant to mention Donald Trump by name.
He remarked, “The thing is, I’m actually not nearly as political of a person as people think. I got kicked out of Silicon Valley because I made a $9,000 political donation. The reason that people pay attention to it at the end of the day is because it’s novel for a person in tech to have supported the person who became president that year.”
Chang highlights that the “person who became president that year” was Trump, who continues to stir debates regarding security while surprisingly leading President Joe Biden in some polls, according to the latest data from the New York Times.
For those interested, the full 30-minute interview with Luckey is available on YouTube. It offers a comprehensive look at how defense contractors in the tech world envision the future. Regardless of the outcome in the upcoming elections, Luckey seems set on developing cutting-edge technology for warfare in the coming decades. It’s essential to pay attention to voices like his to grasp where an annual $850 billion of taxpayer money is funneling in the realm of defense.
