Geoffrey Hinton, known as the “godfather” of artificial intelligence, said he’s “more worried” about the risks of AI today than he was two years ago, when he left his post at Google and began speaking freely about the dangers of the fast-developing technology.
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Hinton addressed his broader concerns about AI, specifically the risk that the technology could outsmart humans.
“I’m probably more worried,” Hinton said when asked to compare his level of concern today to two years ago. “It’s progressed even faster than I thought.”
“In particular, it’s got better at doing things like reasoning and also at things like deceiving people,” he continued.
Pressed to expand on the concern, Hinton said, “An AI, to achieve the goals you give it, wants to stay in existence, and if it believes you’re trying to get rid of it, it will make plans to deceive you, so you don’t get rid of it.”
Hinton noted there are “a lot of wonderful effects of AI,” saying he thinks it will make health care and education better and can help address climate change.
“But along with those wonderful things come some scary things,” he said. “And I don’t think people are putting enough work into how we can mitigate those scary things.”
He said he’s concerned that, in 2026, AI will begin to have “the capabilities to replace many, many jobs,” in about seven months or so, noting it can perform tasks at consistently faster speeds.
