‘These guys are really betting on [it]’

The “Godfather of Artificial Intelligence” issued another warning of potentially imminent economic chaos during a debate with Senator Bernie Sanders: Luck reported.

What’s going on?

If Geoffrey Hinton didn’t routinely appear in public to talk about artificial intelligence, he would sound a lot like a scientist. disaster movies – to pose as a real person – whose desperate efforts to warn the public were ignored.

Hinton earned the title of “Godfather of Artificial Intelligence” for his pioneering work in this field, but he famously left Google. 2023 To freely discuss their rapidly growing concerns about artificial intelligence. The fact that one of the forefathers of artificial intelligence is involved full-time is alarming in itself.

Hinton met with Senator Sanders, a legislator who focuses heavily on the issue. worker rightsfor a speech It was ominously titled “AI: Promise and Peril.” Hinton has been sounding the alarm endlessly about a threat associated with (but not caused by) AI: mass unemployment and poverty.

Hinton had previously emphasized that artificial intelligence, by its nature, will not make people unemployed, but unscrupulous companies can do this.

A persistent question about Silicon Valley’s all-in approach to AI: ABC News What has been discovered recently is exactly how the technology turns a profit. Hinton saw a path for a return on technology’s “nearly trillion-dollar” investments in data centers and equipment.

“One of the main resources [profit] “This will happen by selling AI to humans that will do workers’ jobs much more cheaply, and these guys are actually betting that AI will replace a lot of workers.”

Why is this worrying?

While 2025 has been marked by big spending by tech companies in the “AI arms race,” credible fears of an “AI bubble” have emerged as the year draws to a close, with even Google CEO Sundar Pichai admitting the frenzy is irrational and financially risky.

2025 has been economically difficult for many reasons; The most important of these was a chaotic year. job marketLayoffs and the specter of AI eliminating positions haunt us.

At the same time, a painful cost of living crisis continued, worsened by rising electricity bills. Is he a big criminal? Artificial intelligence data centers.

In addition to potentially inspiring layoffs and increasing energy costs, a growing number of data centers are harming the environment across the country. Artificial intelligence consumes public resources by consuming large amounts of water and energy.

What’s more, big tech firms investing in AI, such as Amazon and OpenAI, won’t disclose details of their environmental impacts, a silence that speaks volumes.

Communities near data centers have been exposed to extreme air pollution and associated health impacts, and on November 30, threshold Amazon cited early but alarming reports of an increase in miscarriages and rare cancers around its data center.

What is being done about this?

As Hinton repeatedly emphasizes, AI’s potential to do harm competes with the supposed good it can do when used responsibly.

Fortune quoted Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), who warned lawmakers to learn from the past and called for surveillance.

“Let’s look at the fact that we did nothing [about] social media. “If we have the same reaction to artificial intelligence and do not put guardrails, I think we will regret it one day,” Warner said.

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