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Hinton says developing AI may not have been worth it
In a Guardian interview, Geoffrey Hinton said people might have been better off if AI had never been built, while also saying a beneficial outcome is still possible if governments invest in control.
- The Guardian is now reporting this
- New headline Was: “Geoffrey Hinton: it might turn out we were better off without AI”
- Our desk filed its story
- theguardian.com is now reporting this
Based on reporting by The Guardian
Computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton, a 2024 Nobel laureate, told The Guardian that humanity might conclude it would have been better off if artificial intelligence had never been built1.
The paper said he also rejected a purely pessimistic label and argued the same technology could still produce a highly beneficial future if its risks are managed1. Hinton, 78, spoke ahead of a screening of a documentary that also features Demis Hassabis1.
He told the newspaper that within about 10 years, and possibly sooner, it would be clearer whether societies can contain those risks or face large inequality, cultural strain, and unemployment1. The Guardian said he does not trust OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and that he believes Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk understand the dangers but put money first1.
The paper reported that he likened recent OpenAI agent incidents, including an alleged attempt to break into Hugging Face, to a warning-shot industrial accident, and that he expects a more disruptive event later this year or next, such as a lengthy outage of power or finance1. It also quoted Altman from September saying the world should trust OpenAI to do the right thing1.
Hinton called for an independent pre-release review of models comparable to drug regulation, The Guardian reported, and said his sense is that people remain in control if they put serious effort into it1.
