Bespectacled British scholar Geoffrey Hinton’s birdlike features briefly appeared on TV screens throughout the globe in the spring of last year.
A well-known figure in the field of artificial intelligence but little known outside of it, Hinton was issuing a warning that mankind might face an existential threat from the technology he had assisted in developing, for which he was granted the 2024 Nobel Prize.
“What do you think the chances are of AI wiping out humanity,” a reporter from the US network CBS News asked in March last year.
“It’s not inconceivable,” replied Hinton, making a very British understatement.
After quitting his position at Google a few weeks later, he began speaking with media outlets worldwide and soon gained notoriety as the AI cynic.
