Geoffrey Hinton, often called the “godfather of AI,” has warned in a recent CBS News interview that artificial intelligence is progressing at a faster rate than previously anticipated by experts. Hinton, who was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for his pioneering work in machine learning, expressed concerns that once AI surpasses human intelligence, it may become uncontrollable.
“Things more intelligent than you are going to be able to manipulate you,” Hinton stated, drawing an analogy between developing AI and raising a tiger cub. “It’s just such a cute tiger cub… unless you can be very sure that it’s not going to want to kill you when it’s grown up, you should worry.”
Hinton estimated there’s approximately a “10 to 20% chance” that AI systems could eventually gain control, although he emphasized the difficulty in making precise predictions. One of his primary concerns is the emergence of AI agents capable of autonomous task execution beyond merely answering questions.
“Things have got, if anything, scarier than they were before,” Hinton noted, suggesting that the timeline for achieving superintelligent AI may be shorter than initially expected. Previously, he believed that AI capable of surpassing human intelligence across all domains would arrive within five to twenty years. Now, he suggests there’s a good chance it could happen in ten years or less.
The global race between tech companies and nations, Hinton warned, makes it “very, very unlikely” that humanity will avoid developing superintelligence. “They’re all after the next shiny thing,” he observed. “The issue is whether we can design it in such a way that it never wants to take control.”
Hinton also expressed disappointment with certain tech companies he once respected. He mentioned being “very disappointed” that Google, where he worked for over a decade, had reversed its stance against military applications of AI. “I wouldn’t be happy working for any of them today,” he added. Hinton had resigned from Google in 2023 to freely discuss the dangers associated with AI development. He is currently a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto.
