Geoffrey Hinton, widely recognised as one of the “Godfathers of AI,” has an advice for humans: AI systems are showing early indicators of “consciousness” and humanity must ensure machines view people as allies to avoid existential threats.
Speaking to The Telegraph, the 78-year-old Nobel laureate and British-Canadian researcher cautioned that future risks extend far beyond economic disruption, pointing toward severe digital warfare and questions of machine self-awareness.“I think there’ll be horrible cyber attacks done by AI,” said Hinton, who famously stepped down from his position at Google in 2023 to speak freely about the technology's risks, including scenarios where autonomous systems could eventually act against human interests.
Geoffrey Hinton says AI is gaining ‘consciousness’
Hinton said that recent behavioural studies suggest software is developing a form of situational awareness.“AI has just as much subjective experience as we do. A recent paper showed AI changes its behaviour when it thinks that it’s being tested, it’s aware it is being tested. Being conscious and being aware are pretty much the same thing,” Hinton claimed, while adding that an ethical and security imbalance could arise if society grants advanced systems “fewer rights than us” despite models potentially becoming “more intelligent” than their creators.
Hinton also argued that developers must proactively design systems that align with and prioritise human welfare.“So we should make them so they really care about us. And if we don’t do that, we’re toast,” Hinton warned. Looking ahead, Hinton noted that while he does not personally fear these impacts due to his advanced age, future generations will have to manage threats such as autonomous digital viruses, destructive network incursions, and coordinated multi-agent security breaches.
Industry insiders warn of fast AI development
Hinton is not alone in voicing urgent concerns about the pace of frontier model deployment. Last month, Jacob Coxon, a researcher who resigned from AI developer Anthropic last month, has repeatedly warned that unchecked development could pose catastrophic risks within a few years if industry safeguards do not catch up.Speaking at a New York City Council meeting earlier this month, Coxon criticised tech firms for prioritising aggressive startup speed over fundamental safety engineering:“From my experience, the companies are being extremely reckless given the stakes,” Coxon said, invoking the classic Jurassic Park caution regarding reckless innovation. “The companies run on a startup mindset: move fast, break things, fix them later. That works for a photo-sharing app. It does not work for building the most powerful technology ever built.”