Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society, has argued that the academy should not take action against Elon Musk for having violated its code of ethical conduct, an opinion he has expressed following recent criticism of the tycoon.
The Royal Society It is one of the most prestigious scientific institutions in the world and also the oldest, since It was founded in 1660 to promote and disseminate science. It is responsible for advising the Government and publishing high-level research.
Elon Musk entered this institution eight years ago and was admitted for his impact on the space exploration and technology sectors in the automotive field with his companies Tesla and SpaceX. However, members of the Royal Society have not overlooked X’s character and questionable actions.
And it has recently been shown that the artificial intelligence integrated into this social network, Grok, is capable of digitally eliminating the clothes people are wearing in photographs uploaded to this application. Among them, women and children.
This has caused many users to use the tool to generate sexualized representations of all types of images, by order Grok to alter physical appearance of the people who appear in these images.
This has irritated both ordinary people and people with greater authority, such as Thomas Regnier, spokesperson for the European Commission, who has stated that he has insisted that this problem must be taken very seriously.
«We are aware that X or Grok now offer a ‘spicy mode’ that shows explicit sexual content with children’s images. This is not spicy. It is illegal,» he stressed in one of the Commission’s daily press conferences a few weeks ago.
«A superficial and low-impact dispute»
Nurse, who assumed the presidency of the society for the second time last month, acknowledged in an interview published by The Guardian that there would be the possibility of a review of the code of conduct of people likely to be part of this institution.
«We choose people for their scientific achievements or results. Therefore, my opinion is that we should get rid of them if they turn out to be false or incorrect«, he explained in this meeting.
In this sense, the chemist and Nobel Prize winner has insisted that «the Royal Society should not expel anyone.» «The expulsion is theater. Those who want to be punished usually don’t care,» he added.
For this reason, he believes that expelling Musk would only be a procedure, for what this institution really wants to achieve, ensuring that his true job is «to defend the conditions of science in Great Britain»so that, with this procedure, it would be «relegated to the background for a superficial and low-impact dispute.»
It is worth remembering that he is not the only one who has shown his position, since the American chemical engineer and Nobel Prize winner Frances Arnold has subscribed to Nurse. «Our broad aversion to Musk’s positions and behavior does not justify his expulsion,» he stated.
There are also scientists who do not support Musk
Musk’s actions They always generate controversy and add new detractors, So it was expected that this passivity in the face of what his AI is capable of would also have dissenting voices… and not only against him, but also against the director of the institution.
«The most Nurse has been willing to do is write a kind letter to Musk suggesting that he might like to reconsider whether his activities are compatible with the continuity of their fraternity [con la academia]»said a scientist who did not want to identify himself
«If his activities at DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency) and, more recently, allowing his AI to strip women for all to see aren’t discrediting science, I don’t know what is. In short, evil thrives when good men do nothing,» another commented.
Finally, a third member of the Royal Society has insisted that «membership [a ella] It is not lifelong immunity. Scientific institutions have the responsibility of hold members accountable for conduct that undermines public trust in science,» he concluded.