Google Loses “Father of AI” as Geoffrey Hinton Quits Google Over Chatbot Concerns

After working for almost a decade at Google, Geoffrey Hinton, 75, also known as the “Godfather of Artificial Intelligence”, resigned from Google over concerns about how AI chatbots could be a real threat to human jobs.

Geoffrey Hinton, also known as the “Father of Artificial Intelligence”  was working for Google in the AI research and development field and was one of the founding members of Google Brains until he resigned from the company. After recently resigning from Google in May 2023, Geoffrey precisely mentioned the exact reason behind his exit from the company.

He clearly said that he resigned from Google due to the possible threats that the Artificial Intelligent chatbots could pose to human employment. He expressed that he somehow regrets being involved in the development of AI technology that has fueled the likeness of ChatGPT, BARD, and many more AI tools. 

While giving an interview to BBC, he stated,

“I can now just speak freely about what I think the dangers might be. And some of them are quite scary. Right now, as far as I can tell, they’re not more intelligent than us. But I think they soon may be.”

Can AI Easily Surpass Human Intelligence?

Hinton also spoke in detail about how Generative AI could surpass human brains and become more intelligent than an actual human posing an existential crisis for them.

He mentioned, “AI might soon surpass the information capacity of the human brain.” While explaining how generative AI has the ability to get misdirected and exploited by the ”bad actors” for doing harmful activities, he voiced, “It’s hard to imagine how you’d stop bad actors from using it for bad things”.

Although, Hinton did not write any open letters like the other tech experts who have signed open letters for halting the development of more advanced AI chatbots. But after resigning from Google over the AI risks and its repercussions, he ended up joining the bandwagon of these experts who demand a pause on the development of advanced AI unless the necessary regulations and safety measures are taken to contain the significant risks that AI calls for.

Over the criticizing statements he gave on Artificial Intelligence Technology after resigning from Google, he explained,

“In the NYT today, Cade Metz implies that I left Google so that I could criticize Google. Actually, I left so that I could talk about the dangers of AI without considering how this impacts Google. Google has acted very responsibly.”

He clarified that he did not leave due to any issues with Google but solely due to the AI technology and the threatening future risks involved. In fact, he praised Google for acting as a very responsible company while incorporating AI technology and developments in its chatbot and systems.

Who is Geoffrey Hinton?

Geoffrey Hinton is currently working as a senior researcher at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and a professor at the University of Toronto. He is a reputed researcher who has marked his name in the field of Artificial Intelligence technology. Hinton won the ‘Nobel Prize in Computing’ for his work on neural networks which has rightfully earned the titles of “Father of AI” and “Godfather of Deep Learning”.

Hinton joined Google in 2012 after the tech giant spent $44 million to acquire a company he co-founded in Toronto with his two students, Ilya Sutskever and Alex Krishevsky. The company had developed a system that could analyze thousands of photos and teach itself to recognize common objects such as cats, dogs, and flowers.

Hinton’s work laid the foundation for other technologies, including ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. However, he believes that as companies continue to improve their AI systems, they are becoming “increasingly dangerous.” 

In an interview, he pointed to the significant advancements in AI technology over the past five years and cautioned about the potential consequences of propagating that difference forward.

He has majorly contributed to AI technology by thoroughly researching machine learning, deep learning, and neural networks that are widely used by companies today for employing AI in their products and systems. His exit from Google has sparked a serious discussion over the future of AI.

According to reports, all was well between Hinton and Google until Microsoft launched Bing, a search engine that uses OpenAI’s technology. This move reportedly sparked a “code red” at Google, leading to Hinton’s resignation. He is now raising awareness about the potential dangers of AI and advocating for responsible development and implementation of the technology.

Critics all over the world believes that only time would tell what the future of AI and its potentially risky effects on humans holds for us. Whether or not AI would surpass humans and become a threat to their existence is a very debatable topic as of now and researchers and experts are working on it to draw a successful conclusion on the same.