Irish Examiner view: Proceed with scepticism while online 

‘Godfather of AI’ resigns

Geoffrey Hinton quit his job at Google citing concerns over possibilities of AI being exploited by 'bad actors'. Illustration: Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto

The name Geoffrey Hinton probably meant little to readers until last weekend, when the former Google employee began to speak to the media about artificial intelligence (AI).

The warnings being issued by Hinton come with plenty of credibility, given he has been described as the “godfather of AI”. The nickname is a result of his deep research in and lengthy association with the field, but more sinister cinematic associations with the term “godfather” may also have some resonance. 

Hinton described the dangers posed by AI chatbots as “quite scary” and warned of the possibilities of AI being exploited by “bad actors”.

It is a timely warning. At present many of us are encountering the newest iteration of AI at a slight remove — seeing photographs generated by AI on social media, for instance, and being invited to distinguish between those and real photographs.

However, the real-world implications of uncannily realistic photographs being created for propaganda purposes in a warzone, for instance, are far more serious. 

In an era when online disinformation strategies are a relatively common ploy among rogue states trying to influence elections in other jurisdictions, the increasing sophistication of AI adds a worrying dimension to such strategies. 

The implications for all were put bluntly by an expert at the University of New South Wales’ AI Institute recently, who said that people must now consider the possibility that any online media they consume has been generated by AI.

Not all of Hinton’s concerns are quite that apocalyptic, but they still have the capacity to unsettle. He has pointed out that some AI chatbots have the potential to cause havoc in the employment market by rendering certain jobs obsolete, which will give many readers pause.

One point may have been missed in Hinton’s identification of the perils of AI, and it is not the partial regret he expressed about the implications of his life’s work. He admitted that he did not want to publicly criticise Google until he had stopped working there, which leads us to inevitable questions.

What else can we expect from giant tech companies when it comes to AI? And what recourse do we have?