Godfather of AI: As AI becomes ‘conscious’, humans should make robots their friends

Geoffrey Hinton, widely recognised as one of the “Godfathers of AI,” has an advice for humans: AI systems are showing early indicators of “consciousness” and humanity must ensure machines view people as allies to avoid existential threats. Speaking to The Telegraph, the 78-year-old Nobel laureate and British-Canadian researcher cautioned that future risks extend far beyond economic disruption, pointing toward severe digital warfare and questions of machine self-awareness.“I think there’ll be horrible cyber attacks done by AI,” said Hinton, who famously stepped down from his position at Google in 2023 to speak freely about the technology's risks, including scenarios where autonomous systems could eventually act against human interests.Geoffrey Hinton says AI is gaining ‘consciousness’Hinton said that recent behavioural studies suggest software is developing a form of situational awareness.“AI has just as much subjective experience as we do.