The 'Godfather of Artificial Intelligence', Geoffrey Hinton, advises the UK government to launch a guaranteed income scheme. Reason? AI development.
Geoffrey Hinton warns against AI
Geoffrey Hinton, a world-famous expert referred to as the “godfather of artificial intelligence”, talked, as we now learn, with members of the British government. He advised them to enact a guaranteed basic income. Reason? The development of AI that will cause people to start losing their jobs.
Until recently, Hinton worked for Google developing advanced artificial intelligence for neural networks, the core technology that powers most modern generative artificial intelligence systems such as Google's Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Today, as an expert, he willingly speaks about the AI revolution. Just not in the tone we would expect. He warns that mainly the rich will benefit from the development of new technology. Manual workers and people in jobs that can be automated may lose their source of income, he said in an interview with the BBC.
People in Downing Street consulted me. I advised them that Universal Basic Income was a good idea
– He admitted.
The matter is supposed to be urgent.
My guess is that in 5 to 20 years, there's a 50% chance we'll be faced with the problem of AI trying to take over.
– added.
Hinton isn't the only one warning about AI
Interestingly, Hinton is not the only one who points out what AI can lead to.
OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman, a former student of Hinton, also points out that artificial intelligence may pose an existential threat to humanity. He's all about the same thing: income. However, it does not require the government to take any action. He founded the Worldcoin project, which focuses on providing users with income. Anyone who scans their retina will receive a company token.
The question is whether this will mean falling into the gutter due to the rain. On the one hand, AI will no longer be a threat to many people in terms of taking away their income, but these people will become dependent on a private company or the government of their country, which will regulate the amount of their guaranteed income.
