Geoffrey Hinton, who has often been called the “Godfather of AI”, on Monday (May 1) confirmed that he quit his role at Google last week and spoke about the “dangers” of artificial intelligence, the technology he helped to develop. This comes after Hinton had been working part-time at the tech giant part-time between its headquarters in Silicon Valley and Toronto, Canada.
In an interview with the New York Times, Hinton, who along with two of his graduate students at the University of Toronto created technology that became the intellectual foundation for AI systems, has now officially joined a growing number of critics warning about the risks of AI. He also admitted that a part of him now regrets his life’s work.
“I console myself with the normal excuse: If I hadn’t done it, somebody else would have,” Hinton told the New York Times. He also spoke about how he thought he had more time to talk about the potential threat of AI and said it is coming sooner than expected. “I thought it was 30 to 50 years or even longer away,” adding, “Obviously, I no longer think that.”
After the interview, he also took to Twitter to clarify that he left Google so he could speak freely about the risks of AI, as opposed to because he wanted to criticise the tech giant specifically. “I left so that I could talk about the dangers of AI without considering how this impacts Google. Google has acted very responsibly,” said Hinton.
In the NYT today, Cade Metz implies that I left Google so that I could criticize Google. Actually, I left so that I could talk about the dangers of AI without considering how this impacts Google. Google has acted very responsibly.
— Geoffrey Hinton (@geoffreyhinton) May 1, 2023
However, this is not the first time that Hinton is expressing his concern over AI. In a previous interview with CBS, back in March, he was asked what he thinks the “chances are of AI just wiping out humanity,” to which he responded, “It’s not inconceivable. That’s all I’ll say,” as quoted by CNBC.
In March, after OpenAI released a new version of ChatGPT more than 1,000 technology leaders and researchers signed an open letter calling for a six-month suspension citing the “profound risks to society and humanity,” that AI poses.
This comes as Google created its own chatbot, Bard, a few months later. In a statement provided to CNN, Google’s chief scientist, Jeff Dean, said, “We remain committed to a responsible approach to AI. We’re continually learning to understand emerging risks while also innovating boldly.”
It was not limited to them, people across the spectrum, and a growing number of people since including lawmakers, advocacy groups and even tech insiders have been sounding alarms over AI-powered chatbots spreading misinformation and potentially displacing jobs.
Similar concerns were echoed by Hinton during his interview with the NYT when he said, AI does have the potential to eliminate jobs. He also expressed immediate worries about the internet being flooded with false photos, videos and text, to a point where an average person will “not be able to know what is true anymore.”
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