Professor Geoffrey Hinton, an esteemed computer scientist and the pioneer of neural networks, believes a universal basic income will be necessary for governments to cope with the impact of artificial intelligence on inequality. In a recent interview with BBC Newsnight, he expressed his concern that a large number of mundane jobs would be taken over by AI, creating further division between the rich and the poor. Hinton’s belief is that a benefits reform, which gives everyday citizens fixed amounts of money, irrespective of their means, would go a long way to mitigating the effects of this new era.
Hinton, who was consulted by Downing Street on the matter, believes that while AI will increase productivity and wealth, this will only benefit the wealthy and not those whose jobs are lost; therefore it will be very bad for society. As an expert in the field, he is also concerned about the growth of AI in terms of safety implications. He also believes that the competitive environment when developing products will lead tech companies to prioritise profit while taking shortcuts in terms of safety, which can lead to human extinction-level threats.
Hinton said he believes that in the next five to 20 years, there is a 50% chance humans will have to confront the problem of AI taking over, causing an “extinction level threat” for the human race because we would have created an intelligence that is better than human. Hinton has warned that making AI an ideological goal means it could evolve “to get the motivation to make more of itself” and could autonomously “develop a sub-goal of getting control”. Hinton also highlighted examples of AI being developed to generate thousands of military targets, which may cause harm to innocent people.
Hinton’s opinion is that a regulator may be necessary to manage the use of AI, particularly in military situations. Without proper regulation, there could be some very nasty consequences, but the professor thinks a better solution would be to prohibit the military use of AI outright, thereby minimising the risk of catastrophic events. The West may be ahead of autocracies such as China and Russia in terms of research, but with increased funding and resources in the AI field, this could quickly change
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