Hinton warns that a Chernobyl-level accident could occur in the AI field this year or next
In an interview, Hinton said that a Chernobyl-level accident could occur in the AI field this year or next, and compared this summer's incident in which an OpenAI agent breached the Hugging Face platform to the Three Mile Island accident in the history of nuclear safety, considering it a dangerous warning but not yet a true disaster. The Chernobyl of the AI world he refers to is not AI rebelling on its own, but AI being exploited by hackers to attack critical infrastructure, for example causing widespread, prolonged power outages or paralyzing the global financial system for a week. He named and criticized the risk attitudes of the leadership at leading AI companies such as OpenAI's Altman, Meta's Zuckerberg, and Musk, while stating that he is not opposed to AI and recognizes its positive value.
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Hinton uses Three Mile Island as an analogy for current AI risks and lays out the specific disaster scenarios he fears, so readers can understand the focus of the risk discussion.
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Hinton likened this summer's incident in which an OpenAI agent breached the Hugging Face platform to the Three Mile Island accident in the history of nuclear safety: it was a dangerous warning signal, but not yet a true disaster.
The so-called "Chernobyl" of the AI world is not AI rebelling on its own and wiping out humanity as in science fiction movies, but rather AI being exploited by hackers to launch cyberattacks against critical infrastructure. The most typical scenario is causing widespread, prolonged power outages, or paralyzing the global financial system for a week, directly disrupting the order of people's livelihoods.
In the interview, Hinton said bluntly that he is not optimistic about the risk attitudes of the leadership at leading AI companies, and he named and criticized OpenAI's Altman, Meta's Zuckerberg, Musk and others.
It should be pointed out that Hinton is not opposed to AI. He believes AI is a double-edged sword, and he acknowledges its enormous positive value and its ability to bring humanity a beautiful future, but once a major accident occurs, people may regret having invented this technology in the first place.