Bill Maher and Elon Musk Exchange Notes on Vigilance, Cancel Culture and AI’s Potential Dangers – Deadline
Elon Musk and Bill Maher found common ground on Friday Real time on HBO. Both have been damned if they do and damned if they don̵[ads1]7;t for various controversies.
After a lengthy recitation of Musk’s various business activities, Maher said he knows Musk is okay because he does things with a sense of humor, unlike Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whom Maher said he’s not even sure is a real boy.
For his part, the Twitter head allowed that he’s been a longtime fan of Maher’s, even once sitting in the show’s live audience.
“I’ve had it from both sides,” Maher said. “We are called conservatives, but who haven’t really changed.”
Musk agreed. “I think of myself as a moderate,” he said, listing his work accomplishments with electric vehicles, high-storage batteries and solar energy. “It’s not exactly all the way to the right.”
The problem, they agreed, can be traced to vigilantism, which is “the opposite of liberal,” Maher said.
Musk noted that free speech used to be a left-liberal value. “Now we see a desire to actually censor.” He added: “We should be extremely concerned about anything that undermines the First Amendment.” Musk added that the trend goes beyond domestic borders. “In many parts of the world that you think are similar to the United States, the speech laws are draconian.”
Free speech, Musk said, is only relevant “when it’s somebody you don’t like. When it’s something you like, it’s easy.” Censorship advocates, he noted, must realize, “at some point it can be turned against you.”
Maher asked when the “woke mind virus” started.
“It’s been a long time in the making,” Musk said. “It’s been going on for a while. The amount of indoctrination in schools is beyond what parents are aware of. The experience we (now) have in high school and college is not what we had. And hasn’t been for ten and 20 years. Parents are not aware of what is being taught, or what they are not being taught.”
Maher said he no longer tweets because of the mob of “mean girls” who attack anything that moves. Musk advised to ignore it. “That’s easy for you to say,” Maher retorted. “They can’t take your job.”
Then they turned to AI, or artificial intelligence. Musk has been outspoken in his calls for a moratorium on development, citing potential dangers. “If there’s a potential danger, there should be a regulatory body overseeing it, so (developers) don’t cut corners,” Musk said.
The panel portion of the show saw Ian Bremmer, founder and president of Eurasia Group and author of The Power of Crisis: How Three Threats – and Our Response – Will Change the World, and Konstantin Kisin, co-host of YouTube show and podcast TRIGGERnometry and author of An immigrant’s love letter to the West.
They discussed Tucker Carlson’s recent exit from Fox and Joe Biden’s decision to run again, which Maher strongly supported, much to Kisin’s annoyance.
Maher’s show-ending “New Rules” editorial focused on California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, whose absence from her duties, diminished capacity and general confusion are being defended by some as an attack on women.
“Stop trying to turn Feinstein into a feminist crusade,” Maher said. “This isn’t about plumbing, it’s about her wiring.”
