AI could trigger Chernobyl-like crisis by 2027, warns Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton
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Geoffrey Hinton, widely regarded as the 'godfather of artificial intelligence' (AI), has warned that AI could trigger a Chernobyl-like crisis later this year or in 2027, potentially causing temporary blackouts in financial or power systems.
Speaking before a screening of the documentary AI: Probably Nothing to Worry About, Hinton told The Guardian that he was not a "doomer" about AI but believed humanity would have been "better off" never developing the technology.
"Either later this year or next year we'll see Chernobyl, and that may be enough to make people really pay attention," Hinton said. "Can you imagine what would happen? We could recover from it [but] that would make them sit up and take notice."
Asked whom he was referring to, Hinton replied: "World leaders other than Trump".
The 78-year-old also criticised leading figures in the AI industry, including Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and Sam Altman, for prioritising the race to develop more powerful AI models over safety concerns.
"I think [Mark] Zuckerberg and [Elon] Musk and Sam Altman, they understand the risks, and they don't give a sh*t. They'd rather have the money. That's my belief," he said.
Hinton helped lay the foundations for machine learning, which powers many of today's AI applications. He left Google to speak more freely about the risks posed by the technology.
He has previously warned that AI chatbots could develop their own language and that machines might eventually think in ways humans cannot understand or monitor.
Despite his concerns, Hinton believes a catastrophe can still be prevented through sustained efforts to control AI development.
"My gut is that we're still in control," he said. "We might well be able to do something. It'll only work if we put a big effort into it, but we might well put a big effort into it."