Geoffrey Hinton, often called the “godfather” of artificial intelligence (AI), announced his resignation from Google and warned of the growing dangers of developments in the field.
The 75-year-old British-Canadian cognitive psychologist and computer scientist said he regretted some of his work on AI and that chatbots, in particular, were “quite scary.”
“Right now, they’re not more intelligent than us, as far as I can tell. But I think they soon may be”, he said.
He also warned of “bad actors” that could use AI for nefarious purposes. In an interview with the BBC, Hinton elaborated on the worst-case scenario, saying, “You can imagine, for example, some bad actor like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin decided to give robots the ability to create their own sub-goals.”
Hinton’s pioneering work on neural networks and deep learning has paved the way for current AI systems like ChatGPT. Neural networks are similar to the human brain in the way they learn and process information, allowing AIs to learn from experience.
He explained that the kind of intelligence being developed is very different from human intelligence since AI systems are digital, and they have many copies of the same set of weights and model of the world. All these copies can learn separately but share their knowledge instantly, making chatbots able to know much more than any one person.
Hinton’s announcement underlines the rate at which AI capabilities are accelerating, according to Matt Clifford, the chairman of the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency.
“There’s an enormous upside from this technology, but it’s essential that the world invests heavily and urgently in AI safety and control,” he said.
Hinton’s concerns came amid growing concerns about the impact of AI on jobs and society. A report has warned that AI could affect 300 million jobs, and experts have called for measures to prevent the technology from exacerbating existing inequalities.
Google acting responsibly
Geoffrey Hinton clarified in a tweet that he left Google not to criticize the company specifically, but rather to be able to speak openly about the potential dangers of AI.
“I left so that I could talk about the dangers of AI without considering how this impacts Google,” Hinton said in a tweet. “Google has acted very responsibly.”
Google’s Chief Scientist Jeff Dean praised Geoffrey Hinton for his significant contributions to AI during his decade of work at the company. Despite Hinton’s departure, Dean reiterated Google’s commitment to a “responsible approach” to AI while balancing innovation and risk management.