Sam Altman or Elon Musk: AI godfather Geoffrey Hinton’s 6-word reply on who he trusts more

When asked to choose who he trusts more between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, AI "godfather"

Geoffrey Hinton

offered a different kind of answer. The choice seemed so difficult that Hinton didn't use an analogy from science. Instead, he recalled a quote from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, when asked to pick between two presidential candidates.He remembered a moment from the 2016 presidential race when Graham was asked to choose between Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. Graham's response, delivered with a wry honesty, was a line Hinton had never forgotten: "It’s like being shot or poisoned."

Hinton’s warning on potential of AI technology in destruction

Hinton was speaking to The Financial Times during an interview where he sounded the alarm about AI’s potential dangers. Once a key figure in accelerating AI development, Hinton has shifted to expressing deep concerns about its future. He believes that AI poses a grave threat to humanity, arguing that the technology could soon help an average person create bioweapons.“A normal person assisted by AI will soon be able to build bioweapons and that is terrible,” Hinton said, adding, “Imagine if an average person in the street could make a nuclear bomb.”

During a two-hour interview, Hinton discussed various topics, including AI's “nuclear-level” threats, his own use of AI tools, and even how a chatbot contributed to his recent breakup. He also recently warned that AI could soon surpass human abilities, including the power to manipulate emotions by learning from vast datasets to influence feelings and behaviors more effectively than people.Hinton's concerns stem from his belief that AI is genuinely intelligent. He argues that "by any definition of intelligence, AI is intelligent." Using several analogies, he explained that an AI's experience of reality is not so different from a human's.“It seems very obvious to me. If you talk to these things and ask them questions, it understands,” Hinton stated. He added that there is "very little doubt in the technical community that these things will get smarter.”