AI godfather Geoffrey Hinton who warned against supersmart AI says he trusts ChatGPT more than he should

India Today

20-05-2025

Geoffrey Hinton, often described as the godfather of AI, has made headlines once again, but this time not for sounding the alarm, but for admitting a surprising degree of trust in the very technology he has warned the world about. In a recent CBS interview, Hinton revealed that he relies on OpenAI's GPT-4 model for his daily tasks and confessed, 'I tend to believe what it says, even though I should probably be suspicious.'advertisementThis statement stands out coming from a man who has spent years cautioning the world about the dangers of artificial intelligence. Hinton, who received the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for his groundbreaking work in neural networks, has previously warned that superintelligent AI could eventually manipulate humans or become uncontrollable. Yet, when asked which tool he uses most, his answer was simple: ChatGPT.During the interview, Hinton tested GPT-4 with a riddle: 'Sally has three brothers. Each of her brothers has two sisters. How many sisters does Sally have?' The correct answer is one because Sally is one of the two sisters. But GPT-4 got it wrong. 'It surprises me. It surprises me it still screws up on that,' Hinton said. Despite the error, he acknowledged he still finds himself trusting its answers more than he should.advertisementWhen asked during the interview if he thinks the next version, GPT-5, would get it right, he said, 'Yeah, I suspect.'While Hinton may be right to expect improvements, he's not alone in his fascination. Since GPT-4 was introduced by OpenAI in March 2023, it has been widely adopted across industries for its ability to write code, summarise documents, and solve complex problems. However, OpenAI officially discontinued GPT-4 as a standalone product earlier this month. The latest models OpenAI has are GPT-4o and GPT-4.1, which are newer and more advanced models that boast faster response times, lower costs, and a broader range of capabilities including real-time audio and visual input. For Hinton, though, this trust in AI is layered with caution. He has long expressed concerns about the potential misuse of AI. From warning against AI spreading misinformation to posing a threat to humanity if machines ever surpass human intelligence, Hinton has always asked scientists and consumers to be vary of the technology. Hinton worked at Google's AI division for a decade. In 2023, he resigned to speak more openly about these dangers. He has warned of systems so persuasive that they could influence public opinion or deceive users, especially once AI starts understanding the world better than we do. advertisementAnd yet, there's a human side to Hinton that often goes overlooked, one that celebrates curiosity and mentorship. During a press conference after his Nobel win, he proudly acknowledged his students, especially Ilya Sutskever, co-founder of OpenAI. With a touch of dry humour, he said, 'I'm particularly proud of the fact that one of my students fired Sam Altman,' referring to the high-drama leadership crisis at OpenAI in 2023.Still, his outlook on AI hasn't softened. In several public remarks, Hinton has compared AI's rise to the industrial revolution. Only this time, it's about intellectual rather than physical power. 'We have no experience in having things which are smarter than us,' he warned. He has advocated for responsible development and governance frameworks, saying the benefits of AI in fields like healthcare and climate science could be immense, but only if managed wisely.