So Sayeth the Godfather

Geoffery Hinton is widely considered the Godfather of Artificial Intelligence. His research into human brain function in the late 1980s and early 90s at the University of Toronto prompted him and a team of early neural researchers to start to conceive of a digital brain that could learn. His work is considered the foundation of modern machine learning and large language models. He recently stepped down from his position as head of AI research at Google's parent company Alphabet so he could raise awareness of a terrible thing he can't stop thinking about. Ten months ago, an AI model Hinton was working with deciphered and explained the humor behind a joke. It wasn't necessarily a great joke but it was a series of complexities that built upon themselves to end in a twist requiring a leap of thought to understand. That the AI model was able to easily make the leap and understand the humor that made the joke funny astounded and terrified him. That was the moment he reckoned the rapidity of advancement since the beginning of his career in the late 1980s. What he thought would be happening several decades from now is happening today, faster and far fuller than he and other pioneers of AI anticipated. Last week, Hinton suggested he regretted much of his career. In this episode, Jim Hedger and Kristine Shachinger talk about Hinton's worries through a week's worth of AI news. We also talk about Hinton's extraordinary career and think about the advancements that can be made because of his work. We also talk about E-E-A-T, the coming of Google Analytics 4, Google's advice on canonicals for publishers, and Google's disavowal of disavows. We're still trying to get an interview with Professor Hinton. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy