ALBAWABA - Beware of AI! Pioneers are warning of the prospect that artificial intelligence could lead to the extinction of the human race in 20 years, or maybe less.
Touted as the "Godfather" of AI, Geoffrey Hinton, 75, has quit his job with Google recently. Right afterwards, he warned that "it's not inconceivable" that digital intelligence could wipe out humanity in a matter of 20 years, or maybe less.
The ‘Godfather’of AI, Geoffrey Hinton, says it’s not “inconceivable” that the technology could wipe out the human race pic.twitter.com/yjNBTGbemG
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) April 1, 2023
"Until recently, I thought it's going to be 20 to 50 years before we have a general purpose AI," Hinton told CBC Saturday Morning show.
"Now, I think it may 20 years or less," added the British-Canadian cognitive computer scientist and psychologist. He is one of the biggest names in the field of artificial intelligence.
Asked about public speculation that it may be much less, in about five years, Hinton said: "I wouldn't rule out that possibility now, whereas a few years ago, I would've said 'no way'."
He predicted that in a few years down the road, computers may come up with their own ideas for improving themselves. Then, he added, the change would go fast. Therefore, he cautioned that scientists should "think hard about how to control that."
AI researcher & expert Connor Leahy told CNN that he shared Hinton's concerns. But he feared that the situation was worse.
Very interesting interview with AI researcher Connor Leahy, CEO of Conjecture, who is dedicating his time to "alignment" and pushing for proper regulation of the technology. https://t.co/jqoOfnYFcq #artificialintelligence #AI #ChatGPT #GPT3 #GPT4 #Singularity #Conjecture
— Future Timeline (@future_timeline) May 4, 2023
"It's not just inconceivable, I think it's quite likely, unfortunately," Leahy told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
He said he, Hinton and others in the field are going public now because they see the risk approaching.
Leahy said that companies developing the technology are building "God-like intelligence .. They're not trying to build just an auto-complete system."
He explained that God-like systems "means something that outstrips humans in every form of capability."
He noted that the systems run on complex internal programs. Experts, he noted, "do not know how to control these things."
The ‘godfather’ of AI Geoffrey Hinton warns it’s not inconceivable AI could lead to the extinction of the human race.
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) May 2, 2023
AI researcher & expert Connor Leahy @NPCollapse fears it’s worse than that: “It’s quite likely, unfortunately.”
“We do not know how to control these things.” pic.twitter.com/KtfNaQ1lwf
In an interview with the Guardian Thursday, Hinton sounded the alarm again. He said computer models he has been working on for the past 50 years "are actually much better than the human brain."
"The reason I’m not that optimistic is that I don’t know any examples of more intelligent things being controlled by less intelligent things," he pointed out.
Authoritarian governments, he said, are the biggest red flag that suggests that humanity will not be able to get hold of the risks of AI before it’s too late, the Guardian said.
Another warning about the AI apocalypse? I don’t buy it | Ivana Bartoletti https://t.co/WRwowhtjrL
— The Guardian (@guardian) May 3, 2023
"This stuff helps authoritarian governments in destroying truth, or manipulating electorates. And having to deal with these threats, in a situation where Americans can’t even agree to not give assault rifles to teenage boys, that’s not a hard thing to think about," he said.
Hinton's advice on AI
As for giving a specific advice on what could be done, Hinton was lost for words, according to the Guardian. "I’m not a policy guy," he said. "I’m just someone who’s suddenly become aware that there’s a danger of something really bad happening."
"I wish I had a nice solution, like: ‘Just stop burning carbon, and you’ll be OK.’ But I can’t see a simple solution like that."
