Geoffrey Hinton, known as the “godfather of AI,” fears the technology he helped build could wipe out humanity — and the tech industry is taking the wrong approach to stop it.
Hinton, a Nobel Prize–winning computer scientist and a former Google executive,
has warned in the past that there is a 10% to 20% chance that AI wipes out humans.
On Tuesday, he expressed doubts about how tech companies are trying to ensure
humans remain “dominant” over “submissive” AI systems.
“That’s not going to work. They’re going to be much smarter than us. They’re going to
have all sorts of ways to get around that,” Hinton said at Ai4, an industry conference
in Las Vegas.
This year has already seen examples of AI systems willing to deceive, cheat and steal to achieve their goals. For example, to avoid being replaced, one AI model tried to blackmail an engineer about an affair it learned about in an email.
Instead of forcing AI to submit to humans, Hinton presented an intriguing solution:
building “maternal instincts” into AI models, so “they really care about people” even
once the technology becomes more powerful and smarter than humans.
Hinton said it’s not clear to him exactly how that can be done technically but stressed
it’s critical researchers work on it.
Hinton is known for his pioneering work on neural networks, which helped pave the
way to today’s AI boom.
In 2023, he stepped down from Google and started speaking out about the dangers of AI.
Not everyone is on board with Hinton’s maternal AI approach.
godfather 教父
reveal 美/rɪˈviːl/ 揭露、透露、公开
known as 被称为、被誉为
wipe out 为固定短语，彻底摧毁、消灭
helped build 助力研发
is taking 正采取
approach 方法
Nobel Prize-winning /ˌnoʊbel ˈpraɪz/ 诺贝尔奖得主
executive /ɪɡˈzekjətɪv/ 高管
chance 某事发生的可能性, 概率
expressed doubts about 对…… 表示怀疑
dominant /ˈdɑːmɪnənt/ 主导的、占优势的
submissive /səbˈmɪsɪv/ 顺从的、服从的
get around that 绕过这一限制
willing to 主动、甘愿
deceive /dɪˈsiːv/ 欺骗
blackmail /ˈblækmeɪl / 敲诈
an affair 婚外情、风流韵事
submit to 意为 “服从、屈服于
present 提出、呈现
intriguing /ɪnˈtriːɡɪŋ/ 激起…的兴趣
building…into… 将…… 植入 / 融入……
maternal instincts /məˈtɜːrnl ˈɪnstɪŋkts/ 母性本能
stressed 强调、着重指出
is known for 因…… 而闻名
pioneering work /ˌpaɪəˈnɪrɪŋ/ 开创性研究、先驱性工作
neural networks /ˈnʊrəl/ 神经网络
pave the way to 为…… 创造条件、奠定基础
boom 热潮
step down from 职位上卸任、离职
speak out about 公开表态、大胆谈论
is on board with 支持、认同
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