Nobel Prize-winning scientist Hinton briefed members of the US Congress on artificial intelligence at the invitation of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Hinton said the necessary safety measures must be implemented to prevent the complete loss of control over AI.
Hinton said estimates that superintelligence would be achieved had initially put the timeframe at 30 to 50 years before it was later revised down to 10 to 20 years. He said many researchers believed this development could occur within a few years, adding that the timeframe could be as short as one year.
Hinton said AI had reached a stage where it was designing better AIs, describing this as self-improvement. “If we don’t do something, this will get out of control. We need to slow down,” he said.
Members of Congress emphasize human oversight
Democratic Representative Ted Lieu said advances in artificial intelligence represented a recent, extraordinary development resembling a science-fiction scenario.

Lieu said AI must fundamentally remain under human control and that the opposite must not happen.
Sanders said there was growing concern about humanity’s future and the creation of a technology that people would be unable to control. He said the sense of urgency among members of Congress to address the issue was growing.