Geoffrey Hinton, one of the pioneers of artificial neural network and deep learning technology, has vacated his position at Google to freely speak about the future potential and dangers of Artificial Intelligence.
In a tweet made on May 1, 2023, Hinton addressed his resignation by saying, “I left so that I could talk about the dangers of AI without considering how this impacts Google.”.
A British-Canadian cognitive psychologist and computer scientist, Geoffrey Hinton, worked for Google Brain from 2013 to 2023. For his role in developing AI technology, especially artificial neural networks and deep learning models, Hinton is considered one of the “Godfathers of AI”.
But the rapid progress of artificial intelligence has led many to raise concerns regarding AI safety and ethics, including Hinton. In an interview with the BBC, he expressed how machine intelligence differs from human intelligence. “I’ve come to the conclusion that the kind of intelligence we’re developing is very different from the intelligence we have.”, said Hinton.
He also spoke about the misuse of AI’s potential. “You can imagine, for example, some bad actor decided to give robots the ability to create their own sub-goals.”
In the same BBC interview, Hinton also urged the world to regulate AI development quickly. “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 concluded.
