Geoffrey Hinton, the "Godfather of AI," left Google to discuss the risks associated with artificial intelligence.

The "Godfather of AI," Geoffrey Hinton, acknowledged on Monday that he left Google last week in order to speak out against the "dangers" of the technology he helped create. Mr. Hinton, 75, announced his departure from Google in a message to the New York Times, saying he now regretted his work.
Mr. Hinton tweeted that he had left his position at Google so that he could freely discuss the dangers of AI.

He stated in his tweet, "Today in the NYT, Cade Metz makes the implication that I left Google so I could criticise it. Basically, I departed so that I could discuss the risks of AI without taking into account how this affects Google. Google acted in a very responsible manner."

He stated, "I can now just speak freely about what I think the dangers might be," in a Monday interview with the BBC. And some of them are really frightening. They don't appear to be any smarter than we are at the moment, as far as I can tell. However, I believe they soon might be.

Notably, Mr Hinton was one of the most esteemed experts in the field and spent more than a decade working for Google.

When he collaborated with two graduate students in Toronto in 2012, he made his most significant AI discovery. According to the NYT, the group was successful in developing an algorithm that could examine pictures and recognise common objects like dogs and cars. One of the pupils who collaborated with him on the project now works

According to CNN, his groundbreaking work on neural networks influenced artificial intelligence systems, which are at the heart of many modern technologies like ChatGPT. He did, however, warn the BBC that chatbots might soon surpass the amount of knowledge a human brain can store.

"At the moment, what we're observing is that things like GPT-4 much surpass a person in terms of its broad understanding. It's not as skilled at reasoning, but it can already make simple decisions. And given the pace of development, we anticipate things to improve quickly. Thus, we must be concerned about that," he said.

Mr. Hinton stated his worries in an interview with the Times about how AI could lead to job losses and a society where many people "won't be able to know what is true anymore."

He continued, "It is difficult to see how you can prevent the bad actors from exploiting it for terrible things." He also expressed worry about the proliferation of false text and images.

Mr. Hinton also cited his advanced age as a factor in his choice. I'm 75, for one. So it's time to stop working. Another was that I truly wanted to compliment Google. And if I don't work for Google, they're more credible," he added.