It’s a time of huge uncertainty. Nobody really knows what’s going to happen… I’m just sounding the alarm.
He lays out his concerns about how the world could lose control of a technology that, paradoxically, also promises to unleash huge benefits—from treating diseases to combatting climate change.
Maybe when they become smarter than us, we’ll be able to keep them benevolent and we will be able to keep them caring much more about people than they care about themselves – unlike people.
But maybe not.
Look at how many people are working on making these things better and how many people are working on preventing them from getting out of control. Noting the ratio is tilted heavily toward the former, particularly at big tech companies.
Where could you make the most impact?
Why Geoffrey Hinton is worried about the future of AI
University of Toronto News
https://srinstitute.utoronto.ca/news/why-geoffrey-hinton-is-worried-about-the-future-of-ai
“It’s a time of huge uncertainty,” says Geoffrey Hinton from the living room of his home in London. “Nobody really knows what’s going to happen… I’m just sounding the alarm.”
In “The Godfather in Conversation,” the computer scientist and cognitive psychologist known as the ‘Godfather of AI’ explains why, after a lifetime spent developing a type of artificial intelligence known as deep learning, he is suddenly warning about existential threats to humanity.
A University of Toronto University Professor Emeritus, Hinton explains how neural nets work, the role he and others played in developing them, and why the kind of digital intelligence that powers ChatGPT and Google’s PaLM may hold an unexpected advantage over our own. And he lays out his concerns about how the world could lose control of a technology that, paradoxically, also promises to unleash huge benefits—from treating diseases to combatting climate change.
“Maybe when they become smarter than us, we’ll be able to keep them benevolent and we will be able to keep them caring much more about people than they care about themselves – unlike people,” Hinton says.
“But maybe not.”
Hinton also offers advice to young researchers entering the field – including students at U of T, where the responsible and ethical development of AI is supported by the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society and many other research initiatives.
“Look at how many people are working on making these things better and how many people are working on preventing them from getting out of control,” Hinton says, noting the ratio is tilted heavily toward the former, particularly at big tech companies.
“Where could you make the most impact?”
The Godfather in Conversation: Why Geoffrey Hinton is worried about the future of AI
University of Toronto
https://youtu.be/-9cW4Gcn5WY?si=jjDL6saEzzpFMjdK
Geoffrey Hinton, known to many as the “Godfather of AI,” recently made headlines around the world after leaving his job at Google to speak more freely about the risks posed by unchecked development of artificial intelligence, including popular tools like ChatGPT and Google’s PaLM.
Why does he believe digital intelligence could hold an advantage over biological intelligence? How did he suddenly arrive at this conclusion after a lifetime of work in the field? Most importantly, what – if anything – can be done to safeguard the future of humanity? The University of Toronto University Professor Emeritus addresses these questions and more in The Godfather in Conversation.
00:00 Intro
01:03 Digital intelligence
02:27 Biological intelligence
03:47 Why worry?
04:39 Machine learning
07:07 Neural Nets
13:22 Neural nets and language
17:18 Challenges
18:49 Breakthrough moment
20:41 AlexNet
24:35 Pace of Innovation
26:04 ChatGPT
27:46 Public Reaction
29:49 Benefits for society
33:25 Pace of innovation
35:48 Sudden realization
37:13 Role of government
40:08 Big tech
42:32 Advice to researchers
43:50 Understanding risk
45:20 What’s next?