Godfather Of AI Warns Of 'Chernobyl-Like' Blackout Event Soon

Geoffrey Hinton, regarded by many as the 'godfather of artificial intelligence' (AI) has warned of a Chernobyl-like event later this year or next year where AI might trigger a temporary blackout of financial or power systems. The Nobel laureate was speaking before a screening of a new documentary, AI: Probably Nothing to Worry About, a title suggested by an AI chatbot, featuring him and his former Google colleague Demis Hassabis.

Speaking to The Guardian, Hinton said he was not a "doomer" about AI but added that humanity would have been "better off" never developing the technology.

"Either later this year or next year we'll see Chernobyl, and that may be enough to make people really pay attention," said Hinton. "Can you imagine what would happen? We could recover from it [but] that would make them sit up and take notice."

Quizzed who were 'they' he was referring to, Hinton replied: "World leaders other than Trump".

The 78-year-old also called out the likes of Sam Altman and Elon Musk among other AI leaders who had been participating in the race to develop the next superior AI model that could corner the market share.

"I think [Mark] Zuckerberg and [Elon] Musk and Sam Altman, they understand the risks, and they don't give a sh*t. They'd rather have the money. That's my belief," said Hinton.

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Hinton's Warning About AI

Hinton laid the foundations for machine learning that is powering today's AI-based products and applications. However, he grew wary of AI's future development and cut ties with his employer, Google, in order to speak more freely on the issue.

Hinton has previously warned that the technology could get out of hand if AI chatbots manage to develop their own language. He added that AI has already demonstrated that it can think terrible thoughts, and it is not unthinkable that the machines could eventually think in ways that humans cannot track or interpret.

Despite his warnings, Hinton remains, on balance, hopeful that 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."