‘Prophetic’: Sci-fi writer Arthur C Clarke’s 1964 prediction about AI goes viral, Elon Musk reacts

Arthur C Clarke was an acclaimed science fiction writer and TV host. Some of his most popular works include 2001: A Space Odyssey and The City and the Stars.

A 59-year-old clip of science fiction writer Arthur C Clarke is going viral across social media. In the black-and-white clip, the acclaimed author predicts the future of artificial intelligence. In his monologue, Clarke asserts that humans have reached the end of biological evolution and now it is time for mechanical or technological evolution that will be thousands of times faster.

Clarke predicts that “the present-day electronic brains are complete morons but this might not be true in another generation. They will start to think and eventually, they will completely outthink their makers.”

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Many netizens have deemed Clarke’s words as prophetic, considering how quickly AI technologies are advancing, be it prompt-based art tools like Midjourney or OpenAI’s advanced chatbot ChatGTP.

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On Sunday, a popular Twitter account Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) shared this 1964 clip by Clarke that he had recorded for a BBC show. This video soon raked up thousands of views.

Prescient https://t.co/Sw9fjbLnJR

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2023

Commenting on it, a Twitter user wrote, “He wasn’t mistaken, all those technologies he mentioned, there are scientists and engineers already working on their development.”

Another person wrote, “He predicted the internet, smart phones, telecommuting, remote surgery, information overload, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and 3D printing. To be honest, some of his predictions for 2064 haven’t happened yet, but they’re right on schedule. This is truly a brilliant man.”

Elon Musk also reshared this video and called Clarke “Prescient”.

Arthur C Clarke is known for writing some of the most popular works of science fiction such as the screenplay of 2001: A Space Odyssey, The City and the Stars, and The Fountains of Paradise. His works have earned him the title of ‘Prophet of the Space Age’.

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