A bleak forecast from the ‘godfather’ of AI
Celebrated scientist Geoffrey Hinton argues that humanity is not prepared for the scale of disruption that artificial intelligence may unleash
Geoffrey Hinton, one of the "godfathers" of AI, has again warned of a devastating future shaped by artificial intelligence. Last week, at Georgetown University, the Physics Nobel Laureate of 2024 outlined the risks of AI.
According to him, the world is racing towards a form of AI that may not leave much room for human work, or even human agency. He said that this moment is unlike earlier technological shifts. Those disruptions had created new forms of work. This one might not.
"The people who lose their jobs will not have other jobs to go to," he said. "If AI gets as smart as people or smarter, any job they might do can be done by AI. These guys are really betting on AI replacing a lot of workers."
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Hinton's pioneering work on neural networks helped shape today's generative models. His Turing Award sits beside those of Yoshua Bengio and Yann LeCun, the other two "godfathers" of AI.
Yet among them, Hinton has become the most outspoken critic. Since leaving Google in 2023, he has warned repeatedly that the rapid spread of AI could lead to mass unemployment. He now argues that the industry may not even make money unless it replaces human labour.
During his discussion with Senator Bernie Sanders, he pointed to leading tech billionaires and said they have not fully "thought through" the simple truth that "if the workers do not get paid, there is nobody to buy their products".
