'Father' of AI warns: Artificial intelligence could wipe out humanity in the next 30 years

The 'father' of AI, computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton, warns of a 10-20% chance of artificial intelligence (AI) wiping out humanity in the next three decades.

Computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton speaks during his lecture on the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics in Stockholm, Sweden - Photo: REUTERS

Previously, computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton warned that there was a 10% chance that artificial intelligence (AI) technology would cause catastrophic consequences for humanity. However, recently, the “godfather of AI” has raised this possibility to 20% within the next 30 years.

“You see, we have never before had to deal with something smarter than ourselves,” Mr Hinton told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

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In 2023, he resigned from Google so he could freely warn publicly about the dangers of this technology to humans.

Mr. Hinton expressed concern that creating artificial intelligence technology in general or systems that are smarter than humans could lead to a worst-case scenario where the technology successfully evades human control.

“Right now, most experts in this field think that at some point, perhaps within the next 20 years, we will develop AI technology that is smarter than humans. And this is a very scary line of thinking,” said the emeritus professor at the University of Toronto (Canada).

He said the pace of AI technology development is very fast, much faster than he expected. He also called on governments to tighten the management of this technology.

“I am concerned that our invisible hand will not be able to keep this technology safe. So just letting big companies develop it freely to make money is not enough to ensure that they are developing it safely. Regulations put in place by the government are the only way to force big companies to do more research on safety when developing AI technology,” Mr. Hinton analyzed.

Also in 2023, he expressed concern that AI could increase inequality, with much of its enormous productivity going to the rich rather than the working class. He also pointed to the danger of fake news generated by AI-based chatbots like ChatGPT.

Mr. Hinton is one of the three “fathers” of AI. In 2018, he won the 2018 Turing Award, an award dubbed the “Nobel Prize of Computer Science” for his groundbreaking research on AI. He has just won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics with American scientist John Joseph Hopfield.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cha-de-cua-ai-canh-bao-tri-tue-nhan-tao-co-the-xoa-so-nhan-loai-trong-30-nam-toi-20241228152136156.htm