All indicators indicate that we are not yet aware of the impact of AI on our future. Just as we were not with the internet or with nuclear energy. Only in this case the consequences could be even greater. It is not surprising then that some experts point out its dangers. An example is Geoffrey Hintonconsidered the “father of artificial intelligence”.
Hinton specializes in the different ways of using neural networks for machine learning, memory, perception and symbol processing and has published more than 200 studies in this field. Along with his work as a teacher at different universities, he also highlights his position at Google, where he began working in 2013 and rose to the position of vice president, but left the technology giant to being able to speak freely about the dangers of AI.
According to a recent interview, Hinton was consulted by the British government and his suggestion was that it would have to establish a universal basic income for addressing the impact of AI on inequality. He also noted that benefits reform that gave fixed amounts of cash to each citizen would be necessary because he was “very concerned about AI taking over many mundane jobs.”
For Hinton, while AI will increase productivity and wealth, the money would go to the rich “and not to the people whose jobs are lost and that will be very bad for society.”
Hinton's greatest concern, however, is not economic, but Governments are unwilling to stop military use of AI. “I think that within five to 20 years – says this expert – there will be a 50% chance that we will have to face the problem of AI trying to take control. This would lead to a threat of extinction for humans because we could have created a form of intelligence that is simply better than biological intelligence… That is very worrying for us.. What worries me most is when they will be able to autonomously make the decision to kill people.”
For him the solution is to create something similar to the Geneva Conventionthe international treaty that establishes legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war, but in this case to regulate the military use of AI.