Geoffrey Hinton may not be a name familiar to you, but he’s very much considered the “Godfather of AI” or Artificial Intelligence. Stuff like ChatGPT, for example. Over the years, he’s played a vital role in its development to make this technology “as human as possible.” Now, all of a sudden, he’s left his leadership role at Google to warn the world of the dangers ahead.

Just to lay out the facts, Hinton was responsible for engineering “neural networks” for many of today’s AI products. His pioneering works taught machines how to think in the same way that the human brain would, which is a bit disturbing if you think about it. The Terminator vibes, anyone?

After a decade of furthering the technology over at Google, he’s quit his job to speak out on its possible dangers without putting his company in a bad light. He also goes on to reiterate that the tech giant has handled this potential-filled technology responsibly, from its early infancy to where it is now. Although a part of him admits regretting his contributions to the cause, he claims that “if he hadn’t done it, someone else would have.”

So where does the danger expressed by the Godfather of AI lie? His primary concern is its ability to conjure a world of fake news in an instant. It can effortlessly create fake images and texts, fooling most people into believing lies and deception. It could turn the tide and cause rifts between world leaders – even leading to war if the AI tried hard enough. People won’t be able to tell what’s real and what isn’t anymore.

There’s also a threat that AI could outsmart humans and take over important roles within society. While the Godfather of AI doesn’t say it explicitly, there’s no guarantee that these intelligences will stay subservient to humans should it realize that a takeover would be more beneficial.

To stop this from happening, a petition has been put up on FutureOfLife prompting the world’s most powerful AI systems to stop development for six months. This break could allow humanity to think of how to develop AI moving forward and reduce the risks connected with the tech. Backers include Ethereum inventor Vitalik Buterin and Elon Musk, among other prominent names.

So what do you think about these moves to regulate AI? Is there anything to be scared of as early as now, or should we be careful around it? Let us know your thoughts!