Geoffrey Hinton, regarded by many as the ‘godfather of artificial intelligence’ (AI) has predicted that the advancements in AI may not be “good news for universities”. Mr Hinton, who has been circumspect about the rise of the technology, said these AI tutors will be able to provide customised lessons to individuals by assessing their weak points, something that traditional educators had been unable to do.
AI systems are rapidly developing and may replace teachers in the next ten years, according to Mr. Hinton, who shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics with John Hopfield.
He stated in an interview that “AI systems are not there yet, but some time in the next ten years, probably they will be really good.”
Because the AI system has observed a million children, it will be able to pinpoint exactly what the child is misinterpreting while they are learning something. These will therefore be three or four times better than a private tutor who is a human, he continued.
“It may not be good news for universities but it’s very good news for people learning stuff.”
Quizzed if this meant the end of universities, Mr Hinton remarked: “Maybe we won’t need them anymore.”
He, however, added that individuals may still need the institutions for research and apprenticeship.
Warning about AI
Mr Hinton laid the foundations for machine learning that is powering today’s AI-based products and applications. However, the Nobel laureate grew wary of AI’s future development and cut ties with his former employer Google in order to speak more freely on the issue.
“It will be comparable with the industrial revolution. But instead of exceeding people in physical strength, it’s going to exceed people in intellectual ability. We have no experience of what it’s like to have things smarter than us,” said Mr Hinton at the time.
“I am worried that the overall consequence of this might be systems more intelligent than us that eventually take control.”