By by Belle Carter | Natural News
The so-called “godfather” of artificial intelligence (AI) has called on the British government to consider adopting a universal basic income (UBI) for adult Britons.
Renowned AI expert Geoffrey Hinton made this proposal during talks with British government officials. He expressed worry that AI would take a lot of mundane jobs globally, adding that it will be up to governments to deal with the growing impact of AI and prevent income inequality.
“I was consulted by people in Downing Street, and I advised them that UBI was a good idea,” Hinton shared to the BBC.
According to him, the AI revolution will mostly benefit the rich. Regular employees such as blue-collar workers and those in jobs that can be automated could lose their means of income. “That is going to be bad for society,” Hinton warned.
The AI expert also expressed fears that AI could become an extinction-level threat for humans in the next five to 20 years. He warned about the growing use of AI chatbots, saying that “a form of that is just better than biological intelligence.” Hinton also pointed out that the competition to develop products rapidly meant there was a risk tech companies “can autonomously decide to kill people” by increasing their dependence on AI.
According to the BBC, UBI enables all employees to receive a basic salary from the government, regardless of their financial status. Every person is granted a set amount of money regularly under this scheme.
Hinton is the pioneer of neural networks, which form the theoretical basis of the current explosion in artificial intelligence. He used to work at Google, but left the tech giant so he could talk more freely about the dangers of unregulated AI. Read Full Article >
