Geoffrey Hinton is the tech pioneer behind some of the key developments in artificial intelligence powering tools like ChatGPT that millions of people are using today. But the 75-year-old trailblazer says he regrets the work he has devoted his life to because of how A.I. could be misused.
“It is hard to see how you can prevent the bad actors from using it for bad things,” Hinton told the New York Times in an interview published Monday. “I console myself with the normal excuse: If I hadn’t done it, somebody else would have.”
Hinton, often referred to as “the Godfather of A.I.,” spent years in academia before joining Google in 2013 when it bought his company for $44 million. He told the Times Google has been a “proper steward” for how A.I. tech should be deployed and that the tech giant has acted responsibly for its part. But he left the company in May so that he can speak freely about “the dangers of A.I.”
According to Hinton, one of his main concerns is how easy access to A.I. text- and image-generation tools could lead to more fake or fraudulent content being created, and how the average person would “not be able to know what is true anymore.”
Concerns surrounding the improper use of A.I. have already become a reality. Fake images of Pope Francis in a white puffer jacket made the rounds online a few weeks ago, and deepfake visuals showing China invading Taiwan and banks failing under President Joe Biden if he is reelected were published by the Republican National Committee last week.
As companies like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft work on upgrading their A.I. products, there are also growing calls for slowing the pace of new developments and regulating the space that has expanded rapidly in recent months. In a March letter, some of the top names in the tech industry, including Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak and computer scientist Yoshua Bengio signed a letter asking for a ban on the development of advanced A.I. systems. Hinton didn’t sign the letter, although he believes that companies should think before scaling A.I. technology further.
“I don’t think they should scale this up more until they have understood whether they can control it,” he said.
Hinton is also worried about how A.I. could change the job market by rendering nontechnical jobs irrelevant. He warned that A.I. had the capability to harm more types of roles as well.
“It takes away the drudge work,” Hinton said. “It might take away more than that.”
When asked for a comment about Hinton’s interview, Google emphasized the company’s commitment to a “responsible approach.”
“Geoff has made foundational breakthroughs in A.I., and we appreciate his decade of contributions at Google,” Jeff Dean, the company’s chief scientist, told Fortune in a statement. “As one of the first companies to publish A.I. principles, we remain committed to a responsible approach to A.I. We’re continually learning to understand emerging risks while also innovating boldly.”
Hinton did not immediately return Fortune’s request for comment.
