What happened
Artificial intelligence (AI) isn't only powering advanced IT functions these days, it's powering up the share prices of stocks associated with it. A rather negative take on Alphabet's (GOOG -0.97%) (GOOGL -0.83%) efforts in this sphere from a former employee gave investors a bit of a pause to think. As a result, both of the tech giant's listed stocks slid by almost 2% in price on Tuesday.
So what
In a sizable feature story published in The New York Times, Geoffrey Hinton announced publicly that he has stepped down from Google/Alphabet in order to speak freely on the dangers of AI.
Known by many as "the Godfather of AI," Hinton expressed deep concern about the technology's potential. The Times quoted him as saying that "The idea that this stuff could actually get smarter than people -- a few people believed that. But most people thought it was way off. And I thought it was way off. I thought it was 30 to 50 years or even longer away. Obviously, I no longer think that."
Hinton's main concern, shared with numerous others in the tech industry and even certain figures at the forefront of AI development, is that it can be harnessed by bad actors for disinformation purposes.
Now what
Hinton ran a small company called DNNResearch with two of his University of Toronto graduate students. Google acquired it in 2013, and keeping Hinton at the helm, used it as a foundation for its push into AI.
The now ex-Alphabet executive's warnings will certainly be taken seriously, but they won't derail the snowballing development of AI technology. It's already becoming a high-stakes game, particularly with the involvement of determined rival Microsoft, which is a major investor in ChatGPT developer OpenAI.
