AI 'Godfather' Geoffrey Hinton Calls For Decision To Protect Humanity

Among the most popular topics among business and the investing community in 2023 is the rise of artificial intelligence.

While many companies are finding ways to utilize the technology, one of the people most familiar with the capabilities is sounding the alarm.

What Happened: Earlier this year, Geoffrey Hinton, the "Godfather of AI," made headlines when he quit his job at Google, part of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL), over risks of artificial intelligence and the potential of bad actors using the technology.

Known for his role in helping to advance artificial intelligence, the computer scientist joined Google in 2013.

In a recent interview on “60 Minutes,” which aired on Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA)(NASDAQ: PARAA)-owned CBS this past Sunday, Hinton continued to highlight the potential negatives that come with AI advancements.

“It may be we look back and see this as a kind of turning point when humanity had to make the decision about whether to develop these things further and what to do to protect themselves if they did,” Hinton said.

Hinton said that there could be good and bad from artificial intelligence with huge unknowns on what could happen next.

“We need to think hard about what’s going to happen next. And we just don’t know.”

Hinton said that AI could have the potential to take over from humanity during his interview on “60 Minutes.”

“If we could stop them from ever wanting to, that would be great, but it’s not clear we can stop them ever wanting to.”

Concerns from Hinton include the loss of jobs to artificial intelligence and the rise of fake news, with biased AI programs providing information accepted as fact.

Hinton warned that AI systems could write their own computer code to modify themselves.

“That’s something we need to seriously worry about.”

Related Link: Exclusive: Tim Draper On Artificial Intelligence, Bitcoin, His Best Investment Return

Why It’s Important: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned of some of the capabilities of artificial intelligence during a hearing in front of the U.S. Senate in May. Altman said that the technology could “go quite wrong” and he wanted to work with the government to prevent such scenarios from happening.

Despite the risks associated with AI and his warnings, Hinton said he has no regrets in his help developing systems and putting the rise of artificial intelligence in motion.

“So an obvious are where there’s huge benefits is health care,” Hinton said. “AI is already comparable with radiologists in understanding what’s going on in medical images. It’s going to be very good at designing drugs.”

Hinton said there may not be a path forward with AI that guarantees safety for the future of humanity.

“We’re entering a period of great uncertainty, where we’re dealing with things we’ve never dealt with before.”

Hinton said we can’t afford to get it wrong.

Read Next: Dividends, AI, Electric Vehicles Are Top 2023 Investing Themes 

Photo: Shutterstock; Hinton courtesy Eviator Bach via WIkimedia Commons