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Agence France-Presse

A computer scientist often dubbed “the godfather of artificial intelligence” has quit his job at Google to speak out about the dangers of the technology, US media reported on Monday.
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”.
“Look at how it was five years ago and how it is now,” he was quoted as saying in the piece, which was published on Monday.
“Take the difference and propagate it forwards. That’s scary.”

Hinton said that competition between tech giants was pushing companies to release new AI technologies at dangerous speeds, risking jobs and spreading misinformation.
“It is hard to see how you can prevent the bad actors from using it for bad things,” he told the Times.
In 2022, Google and OpenAI – the start-up behind the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT – started building systems using much larger amounts of data than before.
Hinton told the Times he believed that these systems were eclipsing human intelligence in some ways because of the amount of data they were analysing.


“Maybe what is going on in these systems is actually a lot better than what is going on in the brain,” he told the paper.
While AI has been used to support human workers, the rapid expansion of chatbots like ChatGPT could put jobs at risk.
AI “takes away the drudge work”, but “might take away more than that”, he told the Times.
The scientist also warned about the potential spread of misinformation created by AI, indicating that the average person will “not be able to know what is true any more”.

Hinton notified Google of his resignation last month, according to the Times report.
Jeff Dean, lead scientist for Google AI, thanked Hinton in a statement to US media.
“As one of the first companies to publish AI Principles, we remain committed to a responsible approach to AI,” the statement added.
“We’re continually learning to understand emerging risks while also innovating boldly.”
The runners and riders in China’s race to catch up with OpenAI’s ChatGPT
In March, tech billionaire Elon Musk and a range of experts called for a pause in the development of AI systems to allow time to make sure they are safe.
An open letter, signed by more than 1,000 people including Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, was prompted by 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 Times that scientists should not “scale this up more until they have understood whether they can control it”.


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Artificial intelligence

‘Godfather of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton quits Google to warn the world about dangers posed by the technology

British-Canadian computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton created a foundation technology for artificial intelligence systems. Photo: YouTube

Computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton warned about the potential spread of misinformation created by artificial intelligence, indicating that the average person will “not be able to know what is true any more”. Photo: Shutterstock

ChatGPT, from Microsoft-backed start-up OpenAI, and Google’s Bard AI represent the new wave of artificial intelligence systems that are using much larger amounts of data than before. Photo: Shutterstock

China’s leadership wants to embrace AI advances but also control risks, as ChatGPT shocks with power and popularity

Beijing is treading carefully on regulation of ChatGPT-like services. Photo: Shutterstock  

Politburo recently concluded that China must ‘pay attention to the development of AGI’ but also ‘take risk prevention into account’. Photo: Shutterstock 

State-run China Telecom unveils own ChatGPT-like service, joining generative AI competition with Baidu and Alibaba

China Telecom, China’s third-largest cloud service provider, is joining the generative AI race with plans to soon launch a product based on its self-developed large language models. Photo: Shutterstock

Alibaba seeks growth from AI co-development programme targeting industrial clients, cuts prices on cloud services

The Alibaba Cloud logo is seen displayed on a smartphone in this photo illustration. Photo: Shutterstock Images

No advanced coding skills required: NetEase launches its ChatGPT rival for enterprises to build apps with text prompts

NetEase launches a low-code platform for enterprise clients to create simple apps using ChatGPT-style technology. Photo: Shutterstock

NetEase’s office in Beijing’s Zhongguancun Software Park. Photo: Shutterstock

AI developers must ‘learn to dance with shackles on’ as China makes new rules in a post-ChatGPT world

Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

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Computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton said the latest advances in artificial intelligence posed ‘profound risks to society and humanity’
He said that competition between tech giants was pushing new AI technologies at dangerous speeds, risking jobs and spreading misinformation


The British-Canadian computer scientist said that competition between tech giants was pushing companies to release new AI technologies at dangerous speeds, risking jobs and spreading misinformation.


‘Godfather of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton quits Google to warn the world about dangers posed by the technology

Computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton said the latest advances in artificial intelligence posed ‘profound risks to society and humanity’ He said that competition between tech giants was pushing new AI technologies at dangerous speeds, risking jobs and spreading misinformation

Computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton said the latest advances in artificial intelligence posed ‘profound risks to society and humanity’

He said that competition between tech giants was pushing new AI technologies at dangerous speeds, risking jobs and spreading misinformation