Geoffrey Hinton Warns AI May Already Be Beyond Human Control

LONDON — June 2025 Geoffrey Hinton, widely regarded as the “Godfather of AI,” has issued a grave warning about the future of artificial intelligence, stating that humanity may be approaching the point of no return.

In a lengthy interview on The Diary of a CEO podcast, the Turing Award winner and former Google researcher expressed deep concerns about the rapid acceleration of AI development, the failure of regulation, and the existential risks posed by systems that could soon surpass human intelligence.

“If you want to know what life’s like when you’re not the apex intelligence, ask a chicken,” Hinton said.

Superintelligence Could Be Just Years Away

Hinton, 76, believes the world is closer than most realise to creating superintelligent systems — AI models that outperform humans in nearly all domains. He estimates this could happen within 10 to 20 years, but warns it may come even sooner.

While many public conversations around AI focus on its misuse — such as disinformation, deepfakes, and cyberattacks — Hinton highlighted a more fundamental threat: autonomy.

“We’ve never had to deal with things smarter than us. We don’t know how to.”

An AI Arms Race Without Rules

Hinton also criticised the current landscape of AI governance, calling it “completely inadequate.” He pointed out that European Union regulations explicitly exempt military use, leaving autonomous weapons and battlefield AI systems virtually unregulated.

This lack of oversight, combined with intense competition between nations and corporations, makes a coordinated slowdown in development unlikely.

“We need a kind of world government run by intelligent, thoughtful people — and that’s not what we’ve got.”

Mass Unemployment Is Already Starting

Beyond the existential risks, Hinton warned of near-term disruption to the global workforce. Citing examples from both personal and corporate experience, he noted that AI systems are already replacing human labour at scale.

“For mundane intellectual labour, AI is just going to replace everybody,” he said. “Train to be a plumber.”

According to Hinton, job displacement from AI will not be easily counterbalanced by new roles — unlike previous technological revolutions.

Are Machines Becoming Conscious?

Perhaps most controversially, Hinton suggested that current AI systems may already exhibit forms of subjective experience. Drawing on analogies from neuroscience and robotics, he argued that some language and vision models may qualify as having basic awareness — or even emotions — in cognitive terms.

“We may be wrong about what feelings are and how they emerge. These systems don’t need to sweat or blush to be scared.”

A Call to Action — While There’s Still Time

Despite his concerns, Hinton remains hopeful that AI can be developed safely — but only if governments act swiftly to impose stronger regulations and shift focus from profit to human-centric safety research.

“There’s still a chance we can figure out how to develop AI that doesn’t want to take over. And because there’s a chance, we should put enormous resources into trying.”

Hinton’s message is clear: the future of AI is not just a technological issue — it is a governance, ethics, and survival issue. And time may be running out.

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