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Nobel Prize–winning computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton has warned that humanity may have only about a year left to put safety measures in place before losing control of artificial intelligence altogether.
According to a report by NBC television, Hinton briefed members of the U.S. Congress on artificial intelligence at the invitation of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Hinton stated that "perhaps only a year may remain to implement the necessary safety measures before completely losing control" over artificial intelligence.
Noting that predictions about when superintelligence would be reached used to range from 30 to 50 years, Hinton said, "Then those predictions dropped to maybe 10, maybe 20 years. Now people, many researchers, are saying it will happen in just a few years. Maybe one year, but not much more than one year."
Hinton noted that artificial intelligence has reached a point where it is "now designing better AIs," adding, "So this is called self-improvement. If we don't do something, this situation will spiral out of control. We need to slow down."
Democratic member of the House of Representatives Ted Lieu assessed the situation as follows: "This is literally a recently occurring, unbelievably crazy, and completely science-fiction scenario. At the most basic level, humans must control artificial intelligence. The opposite must not be the case."
Sanders, in his own remarks, said there is "growing concern" over humanity's future and the creation of a technology that people would not be able to control, adding, "I believe there is an increasing sense of urgency among members of Congress that this issue needs to be addressed."
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