‘Godfather of AI’ Quits Google, Warns of Serious Technology Dangers

‘Godfather of AI’ Quits Google, Warns of Serious Technology Dangers

A man widely considered the "godfather" of artificial intelligence (AI) says he quit his job at Google to speak freely about the dangers of the technology.

Geoffrey Hinton recently spoke¹ to The New York Times and other press about his experiences at Google, and his wider concerns about AI development. He told the Times he left the search engine company last month after leading the Google Research team in Toronto, Canada for 10 years.

During his career, the 75-year-old Hinton has pioneered work on deep learning and neural² networks. A neural network is a computer processing system built to act like the human brain. Hinton's work helped form the base for much of the AI technology in use today.

In 2019, Hinton and three other computer scientists received the Turing Award for their separate work related to neural networks. The award has been described as the "Nobel Prize of Computing³." The other two winners, Yoshua Bengio and Yann LeCun, have also expressed concerns about the future of AI.

In recent months, a number of new AI technologies have been introduced. Microsoft-backed American startup OpenAI launched its latest AI model, ChatGPT-4, in March. Other technology companies have invested in computing tools, including Google's Bard⁴ system. Such tools are known as "chatbots."

The recently released AI tools have demonstrated the ability to perform human-like discussions and create complex documents based on short, written commands.

Speaking to the BBC, Hinton called the dangers of such tools "quite scary." He added, "Right now, they're not more intelligent than us, as far as I can tell. But I think they soon will be." He said he believes AI systems are getting smarter because of the massive amounts of data they take in and examine.

Hinton also told MIT Technology Review he fears some "bad" individuals might use AI in ways that could seriously harm society. Such effects could include AI systems interfering⁵ in elections or inciting⁶ violence.

He told the Times he thinks AI systems could create a world in which people will "not be able to know what is true anymore."

Hinton said he retired⁷ from Google so that he could speak openly about the possible risks of the technology as someone who no longer works for the company. "I want to talk about AI safety issues without having to worry about how it interacts with Google's business," he told MIT Technology Review.

Since announcing his departure, Hinton has said he thinks Google had "acted very responsibly" in its own AI development.

In March, hundreds of AI experts and industry leaders released an open letter expressing deep concerns about current AI development efforts. The letter identified a number of harms that could result from such development.

These included increases in propaganda and misinformation, the loss of millions of jobs to machines and the possibility that AI could one day take control of our civilization. The letter urges a halt to development of some kinds of AI.

Turing Prize winner Bengio, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Elon Musk⁸, leader of SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter signed the letter. The organization that released the letter, Future of Life, is financially supported by the Musk Foundation.

Musk has long warned of the possible dangers of AI. Last month, he told Fox News he planned to create his own version of some AI tools released in recent months. Musk said his new AI tool would be called TruthGPT. He described it as "truth-seeking AI" that will seek to understand humanity so it is less likely to destroy it.

Alondra Nelson is the former head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, which seeks to create guidelines for the responsible use of AI tools. She told The Associated Press, "For good or for not, what the chatbot moment has done is made AI a national conversation and an international conversation that doesn't only include AI experts and developers."

Nelson added that she hopes the recent attention on AI can create "a new conversation about what we want a democratic future and a non-exploitative future with technology to look like."

Words in This Story

artificial intelligence – v. an area of computer science that deals with giving machines the ability to seem like they have human intelligence

pioneer – v. to be one of the first people to do something

scary – adj. frightening; causing fear

conversation – n. the act of speaking to another person

exploitative – adj. unfairly or cynically using another person or group for profit or advantage

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 neural   

adj.神经的，神经系统的

参考例句：

• The neural network can preferably solve the non- linear problem.利用神经网络建模可以较好地解决非线性问题。
• The information transmission in neural system depends on neurotransmitters.信息传递的神经途径有赖于神经递质。

3 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

4 bard   

n.吟游诗人

参考例句：

• I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神！
• I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。

5 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

6 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。

7 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

8 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。