“Godfather” of artificial intelligence leaves Google and issues a warning

Once again, an expert warns of an uncontrollable development of highly advanced artificial intelligence (AI). Geoffrey Hinton, lead AI developer at the American group Google, resigned and warned Monday in the “New York Times” that advances in AI carried “serious risks for society and for humanity”. According to the newspaper, Hinton has been called the “Godfather” of AI.

He told the paper that competition is driving tech companies to keep developing new AI “at a dangerous pace”. As a result, disinformation was spread and jobs were at risk. “It’s hard to imagine how we can prevent the bad guys from using AI for bad things,” Hinton said.

Google and the company OpenAI – the startup that developed the famous chatbot ChatGPT – started developing learning systems last year that use a much larger amount of data than before. Hinton told the New York Times that these systems would eclipse human intelligence in some ways because of the sheer volume of data.

With regard to jobs, Hinton said artificial intelligence could make “slave labor” obsolete. “But she could take a lot more away.”

According to the newspaper, the developer quit his job at Google last month. His boss at the company, Jeff Dean, said in a statement to US media that he thanked Hinton for his work. Dean emphasized that Google was one of the first companies to publish guidelines for using AI. Google continues to feel “an obligation to use AI responsibly”. Google is constantly learning because it understands the risks – while continuing to “boldly” innovate.

It was not until the end of March that technology billionaire Elon Musk and numerous experts called for a pause in the development of particularly advanced artificial intelligence. “AI systems with an intelligence that makes humans competitive can pose great risks to society and humanity,” they also warned. “Powerful AI systems should only be developed if we are sure that their effects will be positive and the risks are manageable.”

In an open letter to halt AI development, the signatories referenced a sentence by OpenAI founder Sam Altman, according to which an “independent” review would be required at some point before training of new systems could begin. “We agree,” write the authors of the letter. “Now is the time.”

In mid-April, it was announced that Musk, the Twitter owner and boss of electric car maker Tesla, had founded an AI company called X.AI in Nevada.

Other interesting articles:

(t online)