Godfather of Artificial Intelligence Leaves Google and Warns of Risks to Society and Humanity

A computer scientist often referred to as the ‘godfather of artificial intelligence’ has resigned from his position at Google to speak out about the dangers of this technology, American media reported.

Geoffrey Hinton, who created the foundational technology for artificial intelligence systems, told The New York Times that the progress made in this field poses ‘deep risks to society and humanity’.

“Look at how it was five years ago, and how it is now. Look at how significant that leap is, and then expand it further. It is frightening,” Hinton emphasized.

Hinton stated that competition among tech giants is pushing companies to produce new AI technologies at dangerous speeds, threatening jobs and spreading misinformation.

– “It is hard to see how you can prevent bad actors from using it for bad things,” he told the Times.

In 2022, Google and OpenAI – the startup behind the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT – began building systems using much larger amounts of data than before.

Hinton told the Times that he believes these systems overshadow human intelligence in some way due to the volume of data they analyze.

– “What is happening in these systems may actually be much better than what is happening in the brain,” he told the newspaper.

Although artificial intelligence is used to support human workers, the rapid spread of chatbots like ChatGPT could threaten jobs.

AI ‘takes away hard jobs’, but it can take away more than that, he said.

The scientist also warned about the potential spread of misinformation generated by AI, stating to the Times that the average person “will no longer be able to know what is true”.

Hinton informed Google of his resignation last month, the Times reported.

Jeff Dean, the chief scientist for Google AI, thanked Hinton in a statement to American media.

“As one of the first companies to publish principles of artificial intelligence, we remain committed to a responsible approach to AI. We continuously learn to face new risks while bravely advancing,” he emphasized.

In March, tech billionaire Elon Musk and a number of experts called for a pause in the development of AI systems to allow time to verify and ensure they are safe.

An open letter, signed by over 1000 people, including Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, prompted the release of GPT-4, a much more powerful version of the technology used by ChatGPT.

Hinton did not sign that letter at the time, but told The New York Times that scientists should not “scale this up until they understand whether they can control it.”