Geoffrey Hinton

I used to think it was a long way off, but I now think it's serious and fairly close [...] The alarm bell I’m ringing has to do with the existential threat of them taking control. AI Verified source

Let's open source nuclear weapons too to make them safer. The good guys (us) will always have bigger ones than the bad guys (them) so it should all be OK. Verified source (2023)

I was consulted by people in Downing Street and I advised them that universal basic income was a good idea. AI will take lots of mundane jobs. Without government intervention the money will go to those who are already rich and not the people whose jo... more Unverified source (2024)

We should be careful to construct in a way where we still continue to exist, and we can live in harmony with it. [...] Very few resources are being put into it. Maybe one percent. Unverified source (2026)

We somehow have to have a way of — when AI agents replace people — doing what Bill Gates has suggested recently. We have to have a way of taxing the AI agents, so there's still a tax base. Unverified source (2026)

We are making these things, they're getting smarter all the time. And they will become much smarter than us. [...] [Digital intelligences are] billions of times better at sharing information than we are – not twice as good, billions of times better –... more Unverified source (2026)

I think the people who run the big tech companies — the very high up people, not all of them, but a lot of them — think we are going to get to AGI. Whoever gets there first is going to have immense power and be able to make immense profits by replaci... more Unverified source (2026)

If you ever went out with a car that had no brake, boy, you are in trouble if you go down a hill. But you're in even more trouble if there's no steering wheel. [...] [Those opposed to regulation say] unregulated AI is like the accelerator, and regula... more Unverified source (2026)

If you ever went out with a car that had no brake, boy, you are in trouble if you go down a hill. But you're in even more trouble if there's no steering wheel. Unverified source (2026)

When you open source a big model and give people the weights [...] You get people using that open source model and training it, refining it to do something bad like cyberattacks or making biological weapons because it's much easier to refine the mode... more AI Verified source (2025)

I don’t think they should scale this up more until they have understood whether they can control it. We’ve entered completely unknown territory. We’re capable of building machines that are stronger than ourselves, but what if we develop machines that... more AI Verified source (2023)

Scott Pelley: You believe these systems have experiences of their own and can make decisions based on those experiences? Geoffrey Hinton: In the same sense as people do, yes. Scott Pelley: Are they conscious? Geoffrey Hinton: I think they probably d... more Unverified source (2024)

Philanthropy is very important for AI safety right now. [...] The problem is philanthropists are funding most of it; ninety-nine per cent of corporate investment goes to making AI models smarter and one per cent goes to safety. Unverified source (2026)

If you ever went out with a car that had no brake, boy, you are in trouble if you go down a hill. But you're in even more trouble if there's no steering wheel. [...] They want a very fast car with no steering wheel. Unverified source (2026)

GH: I’m an expert on trying to get the technology to work, not an expert on social policy. One place where I do have technical expertise that’s relevant is [whether] regulators should insist that you can explain how your AI system works. I think that... more AI Verified source (2017)

“What’s actually going to happen is rich people are going to use AI to replace workers,” he said. “It’s going to create massive unemployment and a huge rise in profits. It will make a few people much richer and most people poorer. That’s not AI’s fau... more AI Unverifiable source (2025)

We don't know whether we can co-exist with super intelligent AI. Unverified source (2026)

I don't believe there'll be nearly as many new jobs created as it destroys, as it replaces. AI Verified source (2025)