Wednesday, April 30, 2025

'Godfather of AI' Says He's 'Glad' to Be 77

A scientist whose work helped transform the field of artificial intelligence says he's "kind of glad" to be 77 -- because he may not live long enough to witness the technology's potentially dangerous consequences.

Posted by Corky at 07:32 AM | 15 COMMENTS | permalink

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"Godfather of AI" warns there's a 10 to 20% chance AI could seize control - "People haven't got it yet, people haven't understood what's coming" www.techspot.com/news/107706- ...

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-- TechSpot (@techspot.bsky.social) April 28, 2025 at 1:16 PM

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"Things more intelligent than you are going to be able to manipulate you," said Hinton, who was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics for his breakthroughs in machine learning.

He compared humans advancing AI to raising a tiger. "It's just such a cute tiger cub," he said. "Now, unless you can be very sure that it's not going to want to kill you when it's grown up, you should worry."

o

"What, me worry?"

#1 | Posted by Corky at 2025-04-29 12:54 PM

This story reminded me of "Now I am become Death, destroyer of worlds."

"Overall, Robert Oppenheimer's post-war statements revealed a sense of regret and a deep sense of moral contemplation about his contributions to the development of the atomic bomb. His introspective reflections shed light on the ethical dilemmas faced by scientists involved in the Manhattan Project and the ongoing importance of nuclear non-proliferation efforts."

Link:

softhandtech.com

#2 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2025-04-29 01:55 PM

Cillian Murphy was good as Oppenheimer in the bio pic.

#3 | Posted by Corky at 2025-04-29 03:58 PM

I'm telling ya... there is comfort in reaching the kicking the can down the road stage of life.

#4 | Posted by RightisTrite at 2025-04-30 09:20 AM

#4: Some older folks echo the same thought because of global warming. They can't imagine what the world will be like in ten years and feel awful for the next generation.

#5 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2025-04-30 09:24 AM

#MeToo

#6 | Posted by donnerboy at 2025-04-30 10:06 AM

They can't imagine what the world will be like in ten years and feel awful for the next generation.

#5 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2025-04-30 09:24 AM | Reply | Flag:MEH

As one whose first socialization skills involved practicing bomb drills... I dunno...

It's always something.

My pet causes ... outside anti-war and second wave feminism... were world hunger and women's sports. I spent half a century involved in activism for this or that

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine the solutions would look the way they do now.


A nation we have close alliances is compelled to legally define "Woman" as relative to the reality of the biological function of the body and the one claiming that distinction. Our nation mandates legal identification that agrees with what was determined at conception and confirmed at birth.

As many people with obesity disorders as malnutrition... 600 lb people observed for entertainment... cooking shows are people playing with food... waiting room chairs look like love seats.

Narcissistic men demand to dominate women's sports to satisfy a fetish. Hetero sexual men demand to be recognized as lesbians.

There are fewer wars... I thought it would feel different.

I wanted a world that worked for all people... but ya know... it's such a messy process...

AI would mean the need for fewer people... so the quality of human animl could improve... whatever that means... pedigreed up... on the other hand... fewer humans might be the way to cut the planet some slack...

who really knows?


#7 | Posted by RightisTrite at 2025-04-30 10:18 AM

Article is behind a paywall.

#8 | Posted by sentinel at 2025-04-30 10:19 AM

Re 8

archive.is

Even demented old boomers like me are smart enough to figure out how to defeat paywalls.

If you are an example of the generation that is going to save us all from Skynet then we are surely doomed.

#9 | Posted by donnerboy at 2025-04-30 10:51 AM

He's like having Sgt. Shultz for your sentinel.

#10 | Posted by Corky at 2025-04-30 06:06 PM

I'm not near 77 but I am glad I'm not 30.

#11 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY at 2025-05-01 12:45 AM

Tiny slice of AI implications. I'm a contemporary of this guy. Picking through my grab bag of jobs held during a lifetime I come up with "freelance writer." It was a tough sort of non-job job, in that you went unpaid until the publisher/contractor was satisfied with the work you produced. (Arrangements vary and if you get into books the typical arrangement called for an advance payment on signing; magazines not so much.). Coming up with ideas and then the sales pitch. So many sales pitches. If an idea was accepted, off you go, putting it together, etc., etc., etc., and then writing the piece. I'm not complaining. Just saying there were quite a few moving pieces. I do not know that business today, but AI could render that freelancer unnecessary from a purely dollars-and-cents point of view. Think Gutenberg and medieval scribes.

#12 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2025-05-01 08:45 AM

#12: Hi Doc: About AI and freelance-writing, sites such as Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine or Ellery Queen Mysteries require the writer to testify they did not use AI in writing their submission. The writer is warned if AI was used in the work, they will be forever banned from submitting manuscripts.

#13 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2025-05-01 10:51 AM

Hi, Cariolanus ... Maybe some of those graduate student papers will be better written now!

#14 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2025-05-02 01:02 PM

"Even demented old boomers like me are smart enough to figure out how to defeat paywalls.

Since you have a lot of time on your hands, maybe you could teach your fellow boomers how to do it and post a followup link in the first comment as a courtesy, for those of us who actually lives outside of the Retort. Or just post a version of the story that isn't behind a paywall to begin with, instead of being an ass.

If you are an example of the generation that is going to save us all from Skynet then we are surely doomed."

The first rule of my generation is you do not talk about my generation.

#15 | Posted by sentinel at 2025-05-02 08:31 PM

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