Google AI pioneer says he quit to speak freely about technology’s ‘dangers’

After realizing that computers could outsmart humans sooner than planned, a pioneer of artificial intelligence quit Google (GOOGL.O) to speak out against its risks.

“I left so that I could talk about the dangers of AI without considering how this impacts Google,” Geoffrey Hinton tweeted.

Hinton told the New York Times that he was concerned about AI’s ability to make convincing fake images and texts, causing people to “not be able to know what is true anymore”.

“It is hard to see how you can prevent the bad actors from using it for bad things,” he remarked.

As it learns new behaviors, the technology could quickly replace workers and become more dangerous.

“The idea that this stuff could actually get smarter than people—a few people believed that,” he told the New York Times. “But most thought it was way off. It seemed off. It seemed decades away. That’s obvious.”

Hinton tweeted that Google had “acted very responsibly” and denied quitting to criticize his old employer.

Reuters received no response from Alphabet Inc.’s Google. Google’s head scientist, Jeff Dean, told the Times, “We remain committed to a responsible approach to A.I. We learn about new dangers and innovate courageously.