The promise and peril of artificial intelligence

Computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton helped create artificial intelligence (AI), but he recently quit his job at Google to talk freely about the dangers of this powerful technology. AI already can be used to create fake text, audio, and video that can easily mimic anyone. And, Hinton warns that rapidly improving AI programs sharing information could become far more intelligent and powerful than their human creators. While AI could help solve many of the problems facing us, he says it also could be used as a dangerous weapon against us.

Class discussion: Do you think AI will help or hurt humankind? Why? How are companies and governments already using AI programs to replace human workers and human decision-making? How are these programs used to confuse and cheat people? Can you determine if the news you read, messages you receive, the voices you hear over phone, or the videos you see are real or AI fakes? Could AI making decisions on battlefields, in medical care, or over policing threaten our lives? Do we need to regulate the development and use of AI?