Nobel Laureate Geoffrey Hinton Raises Alarm Over the Risks of Artificial Intelligence
The ‘Godfather of AI’ cautioned governments, international organizations, and corporations on the potential negative impact of artificial intelligence on equity and safety.
Even as business leaders and tech companies hail the age of artificial intelligence (AI) as the next Industrial Revolution, Nobel-laureate for Physics Geoffrey Hinton warns that it is becoming increasingly clear that the impact of artificial intelligence also has negative outcomes. Hinton, who was awarded the prestigious prize for his foundational work in creating the neural networks behind many of today’s AI, said, “If AI is created by companies for short-term profits, our safety will not be the priority.”
Beneficial Impact of Artificial Intelligence
In a video from Geoffrey Hinton’s 2024 Nobel banquet speech that has recently resurfaced on social media with millions of views, he praises the benefits that AI is already bringing.
Initially, he joined business leaders and tech companies like Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia and OpenAI in welcoming artificial intelligence as a tool that will boost efficiency and productivity. He even mentioned agentic AI, the next step in the evolution of artificial intelligence.
He said, “This new form of AI excels at modeling human intuition rather than human reasoning and it will enable us to create highly intelligent and knowledgeable assistants who will increase productivity in almost all industries. If the benefits of the increased productivity can be shared equally, it will be a wonderful advance for all humanity.”
In almost the same breath, however, he delivered a warning that is as relevant today as it was in 2024. He continued by saying, “The rapid progress in AI comes with many short-term risks. It has already created divisive echo chambers by offering people content that makes them indignant.
“It is already being used by authoritarian governments for massive surveillance and by cyber criminals for phishing attacks.”
A Warning on the Impact of Artificial Intelligence
Geoffrey Hinton also took the opportunity in his banquet speech to call on governments, international organizations and businesses to take action. Focusing on the rapid development and the future impact of artificial intelligence, he warned that control of AI is an issue that needs to be addressed today.
He said, “In the near future, AI may be used to create terrible new viruses and horrendous lethal weapons that decide by themselves who to kill or maim. All of these short-term risks require urgent and forceful attention from governments and international organisations.”
Hinton also targeted short-sighted businesses as it has become increasingly clear that pursuit of profits have overshadowed benefits for humanity. “We now have evidence,” he said, “that if they are created by companies motivated by short-term profits our safety will not be the top priority.”
“We now have evidence that if [AI is] created by companies motivated by short-term profits our safety will not be the top priority.”
Geoffrey Hinton, Nobel-laureate for Physics
Who Is Geoffrey Hinton?
Geoffrey Hinton is widely recognized as “the Godfather of AI.” He is a computer scientist, cognitive scientist, and cognitive psychologist, currently working as University Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto. He is best known for his work on artificial neural networks, in particular for key discoveries in the areas of backpropagation and Boltzmann machines.
Hinton’s insights and research were inspired by the structure of the human brain and led to the first artificial neural networks. In 1983-85, he used tools from statistical physics to create the Boltzmann machine, which was a significant invention in machine learning. His research has been foundational in many of today’s AIs, particularly in classifying and creating images. His work has many applications in physics, in protein structure analysis, and the analysis of medical images.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2024, together with John J. Hopfield, an American physicist who also studied neural networks and is best known for the development of the Hopfield network.
Before his Nobel prize awarding, Hinton had previously spoken about his fears surrounding AI. As more and more businesses embrace AI, it is up to today’s world leaders and CEOs whether or not to heed his warnings about equity and safety.
Image: Geoffrey Hinton Godfather of AI, University of Toronto; Backstage of Centre Stage during day two of Collision 2024 at the Enercare Centre in Toronto, Canada by Vaughn Ridley/Collision via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0
