“Not just scaremongering”
AI expert fears machine takeover
06/29/2023, 1:43 p.m
Former AI developer Hinton once again warns of the dangers of artificial intelligence. The so-called AI “Godfather” warns that people have to be made aware that this development is not science fiction. And urges politicians to exercise more control.
Geoffrey Hinton, artificial intelligence expert and former developer at Google, has reiterated his warnings about the risks posed by artificial intelligence. “Before the AI is smarter than us, developers should do a lot of work to understand how it might try to evade our control,” said Hinton, sometimes called the “godfather” of artificial intelligence, at a technology Conference in Toronto, Canada.
“I think it’s important for people to understand that this isn’t science fiction, it’s not just scaremongering,” Hinton said. “It’s a real risk that we have to think about and we have to think in advance how to deal with it.” He urged political decision-makers to do more to develop control mechanisms. Currently, for every 99 AI developers, only one is working specifically on it. “Maybe you should try to bring more balance into it.”
AI could promote social inequality
Hinton made international headlines in May when he quit his job after ten years at Google and began harshly criticizing the work on AI systems. The renowned computer scientist has now also expressed the fear that AI could exacerbate social inequality. After all, massive increases in productivity would primarily benefit the rich, not the workers.
With regard to AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, he advocated mandatory labeling of AI-generated content, as the EU is currently planning with its new AI law. “It’s very important to try, for example, to flag everything that’s fake as fake. I don’t know if we can technically do that,” Hinton said.