'Godfather of AI' warns of tech dangers; quits Google
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Geoffrey Hinton, who created a foundation technology for AI systems, told The New York Times that advancements made in the field posed "profound risks to society and humanity".
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Geoffrey Hinton speaks at the Thomson Reuters Financial and Risk Summit in Toronto, Canada, December 4, 2017. (Reuters)
According to US media, a computer scientist nicknamed "the godfather of artificial intelligence" has left Google to speak out against the technology's hazards.
The New York Times quoted Geoffrey Hinton, who developed core technology for AI systems, as saying that advances in the subject presented "profound risks to society and humanity."
Hinton considers how AI has changed in the piece and says, "Look at how it was five years ago and how it is now," adding, "Take the difference and propagate it forwards. That's scary."
He further noted that rivalry among digital behemoths was causing corporations to reveal new AI technology at dangerously fast rates, putting employment at risk and spreading disinformation.
Read more: Shut down AI or 'everyone on Earth will die', researcher warns
"It's hard to see how you can prevent bad actors from using it for bad things," he told The New York Times.
In 2022, Google and OpenAI, the company behind the famous AI chatbot ChatGPT, began developing systems that used far bigger quantities of data than previously.
According to him, the large amounts of data such systems analyze are "eclipsing" human intelligence.
"Maybe what is going on in these systems is actually a lot better than what is going on in the brain," he said.
While AI has been used to assist human workers, the rapid expansion of chatbots such as ChatGPT may endanger jobs and "take away the drudge work."
In addition, the scientist cautioned about the possibility of AI-generated false information proliferating, warning the Times that the typical individual "will not be able to know what is true anymore."
According to the Times, Hinton gave Google notice of his departure last month.
In a message to US media, Jeff Dean, the head scientist at Google AI, expressed gratitude to Hinton.
The statement acknowledged that as one of the first tech giants to use AI principles, Google "remains committed to a responsible approach to AI", in which they continue to learn risks and innovate.
Last month, Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, Andrew Yang, and more than 1,000 artificial intelligence experts, researchers, and backers joined a call for an immediate pause on the creation of “giant” AIs for at least six months, which some criticized as a ploy by these companies to play catch-up.
