An expert who was dubbed the ‘Godfather of AI’ has made a scary prediction for the future of humanity that could happen very soon.
The man in question is an artificial intelligence expert who has been vocal about his concerns that systems are progressing ‘much faster than expected’.
With AI quickly being introduced to our smartphones and home devices, the expert has warned that this could pose a threat to humanity.
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Professor Geoffrey Hinton, who was awarded the Nobel prize in physics last year for his work in AI, has made some shocking claims about how he thinks the technology could be a threat to humanity.
Hinton has become known as the ‘Godfather of AI’ after his work on the tech laid the groundwork for the kind of AI that we use today.
However, he has also admitted that he has had some ‘regret’ about his role.
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This is because Hinton believes that the pace of change in the technology space is moving ‘much faster’ than anyone expected.
He has previously stated that there is a 10% chance of the technology wiping out humanity within 30 years.
But in a recent interview on BBC Radio 4, he admitted that the risk had increased.
The expert noted that there is now a ‘10% to 20%’ chance of AI wiping us out.
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Hinton said: “You see, we’ve never had to deal with things more intelligent than ourselves before.
“And how many examples do you know of a more intelligent thing being controlled by a less intelligent thing? There are very few examples.
“There’s a mother and baby. Evolution put a lot of work into allowing the baby to control the mother, but that’s about the only example I know of.”
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He also reflected on the rapid development of AI since he has been working in the industry.
Hinton added: “I didn’t think it would be where we [are] now. I thought at some point in the future we would get here.
“Because the situation we’re in now is that most of the experts in the field think that sometime, within probably the next 20 years, we’re going to develop AIs that are smarter than people. And that’s a very scary thought.”
The professor noted that it is only ‘government regulations’ that can slow down the speed at which AI is taking over, forcing big corporations to do more research.
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“I like to think of it as: imagine yourself and a three-year-old. We’ll be the three-year-olds,” he said.