In a recent interview, "AI Godfather" Jeffrey Hinton once again warned that artificial intelligence may pose a threat to human existence. Hinton made headlines earlier this year when she quit her job at Google over concerns about the risks of artificial intelligence and the potential for bad actors to use the technology.
In a television interview last Sunday, Hinton went on to highlight the possible negative impacts of advances in artificial intelligence.
"Maybe we look back and see this as a kind of tipping point where humans had to make decisions about whether to develop these things further and, if they did, how to protect themselves," Hinton said.
Hinton said artificial intelligence can be both good and bad, and what will happen next is unknown. "We need to think hard about what's going to happen next. We just don't know."
Hinton warned in this interview that artificial intelligence has the potential to replace humans.
"It would be great if we could stop them from doing that, but it's not clear that we can stop them from doing that," he said.
Hinton’s concerns include job losses from AI and the rise of fake news, where biased AI programs provide information that is passed off as fact.
Hinton warned that AI systems could write their own computer code to modify themselves, "and that's something we need to be seriously worried about."
Despite concerns about the risks associated with AI, Hinton said he has no regrets about helping develop the system and fuel its rise.
"So, healthcare is obviously a huge benefit. AI is already on par with radiologists in terms of understanding what's happening in medical images. It will be very good at designing drugs," he said of the possible benefits of AI.
Hinton said that it may not be possible to find a path to the development of artificial intelligence that can ensure the safety of mankind in the future. "We are entering a very uncertain period, and we are dealing with things that we have never dealt with before."
We can't afford to make mistakes, he warned.