“Godfather of Artificial Intelligence” Geoffrey Hinton resigns from Google
The eminent Canadian computer scientist and psychologist, Geoffrey Hinton, dubbed the “Godfather of Artificial Intelligence,” recently revealed in an interview with The New York Times that he resigned from his positions as Vice President and Engineering Fellow at Google in April. His departure was prompted by concerns that Google, in its pursuit of competing with OpenAI and Microsoft in the AI realm, might relax necessary ethical standards governing AI.
Hinton’s decision to leave Google was primarily driven by his desire to advocate for addressing the potential risks of AI more freely and without restrictions.
Hinton believes that generative AI will rapidly lead to the dissemination of false information in the short term, with long-term implications affecting various aspects of daily life, including the development of fully autonomous weapons and AI systems that generate bizarre theories and ideas after extensive self-learning. If government agencies, regulatory bodies, and technology companies themselves are not yet prepared with appropriate regulations and effective control measures, AI could become increasingly uncontrollable.
Hinton’s concerns stem from the rapid advancements in generative AI, which, unlike earlier AI technologies that remained controllable and predictable, exhibit many situations that are difficult for humans to preemptively manage. Although many companies assert that they will responsibly promote AI technology development, they may inadvertently loosen corresponding regulations and restrictions in a bid to gain a competitive edge, leading to more uncontrollable scenarios and even ethical dilemmas.
However, Google’s Chief Scientist, Jeff Dean, subsequently stated that the company would continue to adopt a responsible attitude and develop regulatory measures to address potential risks.
Yet, as Google recently integrated DeepMind and Google Brain, the company’s official stance is to centralize AI research resources. However, some internal employees believe that this move has effectively reduced the development focus of Google Brain, led by Jeff Dean, while allowing Demis Hassabis, formerly of DeepMind, to continue advancing AI technology applications, potentially overlooking necessary regulations behind AI development.
Geoffrey Hinton is renowned for his contributions to neural network computing technology and played a pivotal role in inventing backpropagation algorithms and contrastive divergence algorithms. These algorithms have become crucial driving forces in recent AI computational advancements, earning Hinton the Turing Award in 2018. Google acquired Hinton’s company, DNNresearch, in 2013, after which Hinton joined Google as Vice President and Engineering Fellow.
In addition to Hinton, numerous individuals in the technology sector and government agencies have recently expressed concerns about the rapid pace of generative AI development, which may lead to insufficient regulations and control measures, potentially causing AI development to spiral out of control. These individuals have urged companies investing in such technology to slow down. Nevertheless, many technology companies have responded by stating they do not believe AI development should be slowed down, emphasizing that adequate regulations and control measures are in place to prevent uncontrollable situations.
