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- Elon Musk said he hopes his new AI venture will solve the Fermi paradox.
- The theory seeks to understand why humans have yet to discover aliens.
- Musk has previously cited the paradox to justify the colonization of space.
Elon Musk believes AI will solve the conundrum of why we haven’t made contact with aliens.
On Saturday, Musk, founder of galactic exploration company SpaceX, explained on Twitter Spaces that his new company, xAI, would aim to create an artificial general intelligence — or AI that can perform intellectual tasks and become more intelligent than humans.
This AI, he believed, would “understand the true nature of the universe” and solve mysteries regarding dark matter, dark energy, and gravity. It could perhaps also solve what is known as the Fermi paradox.
This paradox, a yearslong point of interest for Musk, asks the question: Why haven’t we met or found evidence of other technologically advanced intelligent life, even though, statistically, it is highly possible we should have done so already? And if we haven’t found the signs of alien life, does that mean they just don’t exist?
The paradox is attributed to Enrico Fermi, the man behind the first nuclear reactor, who once asked, “Where is everybody” after reading and discussing a New Yorker cartoon featuring aliens hopping out of a spaceship.
His friends, who later recalled the conversation, say that the physicist brought up multiple theories as to why aliens had not visited earth yet, including that space travel of that magnitude was simply not possible.
“Fermi grasped that any civilization with a modest amount of rocket technology and an immodest amount of imperial incentive could rapidly colonize the entire Galaxy,” according to NASA’s Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute. “Within a few tens of millions of years, every star system could be brought under the wing of empire.”
Researchers have provided multiple theories to explain this paradox. One hypothesizes that aliens, just like us, have created a system where technological advances are predicated on the use of fossil fuels, which ultimately lead to the destruction of their civilization before they can make contact.
Other theories suggest radio signals sent by aliens have not yet reached Earth, that intelligent life lives in the interior of other planets rather than the exterior, or that aliens just don’t feel like talking to a species of lesser intelligence — known as the “The Great Indifference.”
Much of Musk’s interest in the paradox lies in his “concern” that we are the only signs of intelligent life in the universe.
“This is why we must preserve the light of consciousness by becoming a spacefaring civilization & extending life to other planets,” Musk tweeted in 2018.
Representatives for Musk did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
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