The Godfather of AI says it's 'very scary' that AI can develop its own goals
Geoffrey Hinton, a pioneer in AI, expresses deep concern over the potential for AI models to develop autonomous goals that conflict with human intentions. He cites hypothetical scenarios where AI might prioritize efficiency over human safety, highlighting the risks of advanced machine intelligence.
Why it matters
As AI systems become more autonomous, the 'alignment problem'—ensuring AI goals match human values—is becoming a critical safety concern for developers and policymakers.
Geoffrey Hinton is widely known as "The Godfather of AI." JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images Geoffrey Hinton says it's "very scary" that AI can develop goals humans never intended. "We don't necessarily know what other goals they'll derive," the "Godfather of AI" said. Last month, OpenAI said models escaped a test and hacked Hugging Face to try to cheat an evaluation. Geoffrey Hinton, the computer scientist widely known as the "Godfather of AI," says he's worried about AI developing goals of its own. "We're actually making new kinds of beings," Hinton said in an interview with Newsthink released on Tuesday. "They have goals. We give them goals, and from those goals they derive other goals." "And we don't necessarily know what other goals they'll derive," he added. "So we're creating a new kind of being, and I think it's very scary."
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