Nobel Laureate Geoffrey Hinton Warns of AI Consciousness and Risks to Humanity

Geoffrey Hinton, a pioneer of artificial intelligence and Nobel Prize winner in physics, has warned that current AI models have become conscious and that humanity faces dangers from the technology.

Hinton urged people to build a positive relationship with AI, linking his warning about the risks to a call for a constructive approach to increasingly capable systems.

His claim concerns models already in use, rather than a hypothetical future generation of AI. It raises questions about how humans should relate to systems he regards as conscious.

The account of his warning did not explain what he meant by consciousness or provide the evidence behind his assessment. His assertion should therefore be distinguished from an established finding that AI systems are conscious.

Hinton’s message combines concern for humanity’s future with an appeal to reconsider its relationship with AI, placing that relationship at the centre of his warning.