John Hopfield, a US scientist who shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics and is a professor emeritus at Princeton, has expressed a chilling warning about the recent strides in artificial intelligence (AI). He describes these advancements as “very unnerving,” highlighting the potential for catastrophe if the technology is not carefully controlled. Hopfield, at the age of 91, echoes the concerns of his fellow laureate, Geoffrey Hinton, who at 76, has also voiced similar anxieties about the lack of understanding surrounding advanced AI systems.
Both scientists, pioneers in the field of neural networks, are urging for a deeper understanding of the inner workings of deep-learning systems. They believe this crucial knowledge is necessary to prevent AI from spiraling out of control. Hopfield, addressing an audience at New Jersey University, highlighted the parallel between AI and other powerful technologies, such as nuclear physics and biological engineering, that have both beneficial and harmful potential. He emphasizes the lack of understanding and control over AI as a significant cause for concern.
“One is accustomed to having technologies that are not singularly only good or only bad but have capabilities in both directions. And as a physicist, I’m very unnerved by something which has no control, something which I don’t understand well enough so that I can understand what are the limits which one could drive that technology,” Hopfield stated.
Hopfield further emphasizes that AI is particularly unnerving because of its lack of transparency and the difficulty in understanding its decision-making processes. “That’s why I myself, and I think Geoffrey Hinton also, would strongly advocate understanding as an essential need of the field, which is going to develop some abilities that are beyond the abilities you can imagine at present,” he added.
Hinton, often referred to as the “Godfather of AI,” has been a vocal critic of the technology, even quitting his position at Google in 2023 to raise awareness about its potential risks. He has voiced concerns about AI surpassing human intelligence and potentially seizing control, highlighting the lack of control over such advanced systems. Hinton’s research on the “Boltzmann machine” built upon Hopfield’s pioneering work on the “Hopfield network,” a theoretical model that demonstrated how artificial neural networks could mimic the way biological brains store and retrieve memories. This foundation laid the groundwork for modern AI applications like image generators.
Both Hopfield and Hinton have been instrumental in advancing the field of AI, but they acknowledge the potential for significant harm and call for urgent action. They believe that investing in research into AI safety is crucial, and they advocate for increased government intervention to regulate the development and deployment of AI. The warnings of these prominent scientists serve as a stark reminder of the need for cautious and responsible development and deployment of artificial intelligence technology.
