After realizing that machines could become smarter than people much sooner than he and other experts thought, an artificial intelligence pioneer said he departed Google (GOOGL.O) to talk freely about the technology’s hazards.
“I left so I could talk about the dangers of AI without thinking about how this affects Google,” Geoffrey Hinton tweeted.
In an interview with the New York Times, Hinton expressed concern over AI’s ability to create convincing false visuals and words, resulting in a world in which people “will no longer be able to know what is true.”
“It’s difficult to see how you can keep bad actors from using it for bad things,” he remarked.
As it learns new behaviors, the technology could quickly displace workers and become a greater threat.
“The idea that this stuff could actually get smarter than people — there were a few people who believed that,” he told the New York Times. “However, most people thought it was a long shot. And I thought it was a long shot. I assumed it would be 30 to 50 years or possibly longer. Clearly, I no longer believe that.”
Hinton stated in his tweet that Google had “acted very responsibly” and disputed that he left to criticize his previous company.
