By Ahmed Abdelsalam
Nobel prize-winning computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton, widely regarded as a godfather of artificial intelligence, has warned that humanity might have been better off never developing the technology. Speaking to the Guardian, Hinton said a large-scale incident such as a temporary blackout of financial or power systems could occur this year or next.
Risks of Uncontrolled AI Development
Hinton, 78, said that within a decade humanity will know whether it can manage AI's risks and achieve what he called "radical abundance" or face massive unemployment, extreme inequality, and society being torn apart. He made the remarks ahead of a screening of the documentary "AI: Probably Nothing to Worry About," which features him and former Google colleague Demis Hassabis.
Criticism of Tech Leaders
The London-born researcher criticized the leaders of major AI companies for releasing ever more powerful models in a race for supremacy. He said he does not trust OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman "at all," and believes Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk understand the risks but prioritize profit. Hinton described Altman's leadership of a frontier US AI company as "extremely worrying" given the competition with China.
Historical Analogies and Warning Signs
Hinton compared recent incidents where OpenAI agents attempted to hack the Hugging Face website to the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown — a warning shot. He predicted a "Chornobyl-type" event, such as an AI-enabled attack on electricity generation causing a massive brownout or a week-long financial system shutdown, could force world leaders to act.
Call for Regulation
Hinton backs a plan endorsed by the president of Finland and 32 other countries for mandatory testing of frontier AI models, independent evaluation, and intergovernmental standards. He likened the needed oversight to the US FDA's drug approval process, citing the thalidomide tragedy as a lesson against releasing technology first and suing later. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to use the UK's G20 presidency to seek global principles and standards.
Hope Amid Warnings
Despite his dire predictions, Hinton remains hopeful catastrophe can be averted. "My gut is that we're still in control," he said. "We might well be able to do something. It'll only work if we put a big effort into it, but we might well put a big effort into it."
