Elon Musk Issues Important “Black Mirror” Statement to Warn Community

As a researcher with a background in technology and artificial intelligence, I find Elon Musk’s warning about Microsoft’s new “Recall” feature both intriguing and concerning. Musk’s life experience as a serial tech entrepreneur and innovator has given him unique insights into the potential implications of new technologies.


As a crypto investor and follower of Elon Musk’s tech ventures, I can tell you that this serial entrepreneur, who leads companies like X, Tesla, and xAI among others, has sounded the alarm on his social media platform X (previously known as Twitter). He’s drawing attention to a potential reality of the chilling predictions depicted in the “Black Mirror” TV series.

Musk issued a cautionary statement regarding Microsoft’s latest AI innovation, being the benefactor of OpenAI with which Musk had previously filed a lawsuit.

Elon Musk’s “Black Mirror” warning

Elon Musk has expressed his thoughts on Microsoft’s latest AI innovation, named “Recall.” This new feature for Windows users takes periodic snapshots of your computer screen to enable you to effortlessly revisit past activities and locate information using saved archives.

Elon Musk remarked that the project bore a striking resemblance to an episode from the TV show Black Mirror – it was designed to depict potential grim futures of population control through advanced technologies for broad television viewership.

Musk tweeted that he will definitely turn this Microsoft feature off.

This is a Black Mirror episode.

Definitely turning this “feature” off.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 20, 2024

New Microsoft “Recall” feature described by CEO Nadella

Microsoft’s new feature, Recall, enables users to infuse their digital history with photographic memories. By utilizing semantic search, they can easily retrieve information about specific activities on their PCs, such as actions taken on a certain day, month, or year. The AI technology processes this data, making it searchable and enabling users to “relive moments from the past.”

One notable AI feature introduced in Copilot Plus PCs is named “Recall.” This functionality enables users to naturally search and retrieve information from their computer screens using conversational language.

— Rowan Cheung (@rowancheung) May 21, 2024

Musk raised an additional concern in this regard. The billionaire entrepreneur may have been suggesting that such data with accompanying screenshots could be effortlessly obtained and exploited to manipulate users’ actions, revealing the specific webpages they visited, granting access to their personal documents, images, emails, and so on. Amidst the rising tide of authoritarian and totalitarian governments worldwide, this information could serve as an effective means for monitoring populations through persistent computer surveillance.

Satya Nadella reassures users that this function will be executed exclusively on their personal computers, alleviating concerns for those who fear potential danger or privacy intrusions.

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2024-05-21 12:58