Godfather of AI: Geoffrey Hinton quits Google to expose risks of artificial intelligence

Geoffrey Hinton also known as the 'Godfather of AI' has cut off the strings that tied him to Google so that he could openly give vent to his views about the downside of the technology that has taken the world by storm.

Hinton, the Godfather of AI, left his position at the technology giant last week. He has pioneered neural networks of AI systems widely used in technology products.

He has also contributed to the company's AI development however, he had maintained the dangers of AI since he was working at Google as the technology began to advance.

The Godfather of AI told the New York Times that "I console myself with the normal excuse: If I hadn't done it, somebody else would have."

While writing on Twitter about his decision, Hinton said he left Google so he could speak freely about the dangers of AI, rather than because of a desire to criticise Google specifically.

The Godfather of AI wrote: "I left so that I could talk about the dangers of AI without considering how this impacts Google. Google has acted very responsibly."

Hinton, who created a foundation technology for AI systems, further said advancements made in the field posed "profound risks to society and humanity".

"Look at how it was five years ago and how it is now," he was quoted as saying in the New York Times piece, published on Monday.

"Take the difference and propagate it forwards. That's scary."

Hinton said that competition between tech giants was pushing companies to release new AI technologies at dangerous speeds, risking jobs and spreading misinformation.

"It is hard to see how you can prevent the bad actors from using it for bad things," he told the Times.

In 2022, Google and OpenAI -- the start-up behind the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT -- started building systems using much larger amounts of data than before.

Hinton told the Times he believed that these systems were eclipsing human intelligence in some ways because of the amount of data they were analyzing.

"Maybe what is going on in these systems is actually a lot better than what is going on in the brain," he told the paper.

While AI has been used to support human workers, the rapid expansion of chatbots like ChatGPT could put jobs at risk.

AI "takes away the drudge work" but "might take away more than that", he told the Times.

The scientist also warned about the potential spread of misinformation created by AI, telling the Times that the average person will "not be able to know what is true anymore."

Hinton notified Google of his resignation last month, the Times reported.

Jeff Dean, the lead scientist for Google AI, thanked Hinton in a statement to US media.