Artificial intelligence taking over? The Nobel laureate reveals what the chances are that AI will wipe us out

Professor Geoffrey Hinton said we need to be "very careful" and "very deliberate" in developing AI, which he sees as "potentially very dangerous".

He previously estimated there was a 10 percent chance of the technology causing the extinction of the human race, but now predicts that number is between "10 and 20 percent" due to the rapid development of AI.

"We have never before dealt with anything more intelligent than ourselves," Hinton told BBC Radio 4.

"How many examples do you know of something more intelligent controlling something less intelligent? There are very few of them. There is the example of mother and child - evolution has gone to great lengths to allow the child to control the mother, but that is almost the only example I know," he added.

He left Google last year

Professor Hinton, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics this year, warned that AI was changing "much faster" than he had expected and that there had not been enough time to carry out the research he felt was necessary.

While his work laid the groundwork for machine learning—the technology that allows computers to mimic human intelligence—his recent efforts have focused on advocating for safer AI.

He left Google last year amid concerns that "bad actors" could use the technology to do harm.

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"I didn't think we'd get to this so soon"

"I didn't think we'd get to this so soon. I thought it was going to be a long way off," Hinton said, referring to expectations about the development of artificial intelligence when he began his work.

He added: "Now most experts in the field think that in the next 20 years we will develop AI that is smarter than humans. That is a very scary thought." 

He compared the future of AI to the relationship between a three-year-old child and an adult: "We will be three-year-olds and AI will be adults."

Professor Hinton said the impact of AI on the world could be similar to the industrial revolution.

"During the industrial revolution, human power became less relevant because machines were more powerful. Now we have something that replaces human intelligence. Ordinary human intelligence will no longer be at the forefront of innovation - it will be machines," he declared.

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He emphasizes the need to regulate AI

When asked what life might be like in 10 or 20 years, Hinton said it "will very much depend on what our political systems do with this technology."

He emphasized the need for regulation to prevent misuse of the technology.

"We have to be very careful in developing a potentially very dangerous technology. AI will bring many benefits, especially in health and industry, but regulations are needed to prevent abuses," he said.

He added that he is concerned that AI will worsen social inequality if many lose their jobs and the benefits are concentrated among the wealthy.

"If there's a big gap between the rich and the poor, that's very bad for society."

"There is a threat that these technologies will take over"

"During the industrial revolution, machines could not take over because humans had intelligence. Now there is a threat that these technologies can take over," he warned.

Professor Hinton is considered one of the three "godfathers of artificial intelligence", along with Yann LeCun and Yoshua Bengio, after winning the Turing Award for their work in the field.