AI is a more urgent risk than climate change, believes ‘Godfather of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton

Renowned scientist Geoffrey Hinton, who is often considered one of the biggest pioneers of AI, has claimed that the emergence of this technology poses a more pressing threat to humanity than climate change. Although he acknowledges that climate change is a significant risk, he believes that the dangers associated with AI are even greater. “I wouldn’t like to devalue climate change. I wouldn’t like to say, ‘You shouldn’t worry about climate change.’ That’s a huge risk too,” he told Reuters last week. “But I think this might end up being more urgent.” **Also read: AI’s Godfather Quits: Google's leading AI expert quits, starts warning about the tech’s future** Hinton, who has been called one of the ‘godfathers’ of AI, recently resigned from his position at Google to create his own platform to raise awareness of the potential hazards of AI without any restrictions from his previous employer. In March, Google launched its own AI chatbot, called ‘Bard’, to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT software, which had been released in November the previous year. Despite this, Hinton has stated that he believes Google has been a responsible caretaker of AI technology. Hinton’s comments come after a number of prominent figures in the tech industry, including Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, and Twitter, joined forces to issue a warning about the potential consequences of an uncontrolled arms race involving AI in Silicon Valley recently. **Also read: Elon Musk and AI experts call for pause in development of AI systems that outperform GPT-4** The open letter co-signed by Musk and other tech industry leaders highlighted the profound challenges posed by “human-competitive intelligence” in various areas, such as employment and information dissemination. The letter proposed a six-month halt in the development of AI technology that is more advanced than ChatGPT, as well as the establishment of an independent regulator to oversee the rapidly evolving technological landscape. After its launch last year, ChatGPT quickly became the fastest-growing app in history, amassing over 100 million users within just two months. Hinton explained to Reuters that addressing climate change is relatively straightforward because the solution is to stop burning carbon. However, with AI, it’s less clear what actions need to be taken to mitigate its risks. “With climate change, it’s very easy to recommend what you should do: You just stop burning carbon,” Hinton said. “If you do that, eventually things will be OK. For this, it’s not all that clear what you should do.” Hinton believes that simply pausing research, as suggested in the open letter, is unrealistic. Instead, he recommends investing resources in exploring ways to mitigate the risks associated with AI, which he considers an “existential risk.” **Also read: Microsoft's Chief Scientist slams Elon Musk’s request to pause AI, says no point in demanding halt** Recently, US President Joe Biden held discussions with representatives from Google and Microsoft, urging tech companies to prioritize safety measures for AI programs before they are deployed. The meeting was described as “frank and constructive” by the White House. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.