• Augustine Pamplany CST

Geoffrey Hinton (1947-), often referred to as the “Godfather of Artificial Intelligence,” is a pioneering computer scientist who has made significant contributions to the development of artificial intelligence, particularly in the field of deep learning. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics this year (2024) along with John Hopfield. His groundbreaking work in the 1980s on backpropagation and neural networks helped lay the foundation for modern AI technologies, including the resurgence of deep learning.

Geoffrey Hinton resigned from Google in May 2023. His departure was significant because Hinton had been a senior researcher at Google, where he worked on advancing artificial intelligence. His decision to leave was driven by growing concerns over the dangers of AI and its potential risks to society. In interviews following his resignation, Hinton expressed deep unease about the rapid advancements in AI, particularly the potential for AI systems to become uncontrollable or surpass human intelligence.

Hinton has shared many thought-provoking views on AI, science, religion, and ethics. Hinton is primarily a scientist and approaches the world through the lens of empirical evidence and rational thought. As such he is known mainly as an agnostic or atheist. However, his views on religion are nuanced, reflecting an open-minded approach to existential questions.

While he doesn’t subscribe to the tenets of organized religion, he also acknowledges the mysteries of the universe that remain unexplained. He has expressed skepticism about religious beliefs that rely on faith without empirical evidence but is open to the idea that science may not yet have all the answers to questions about the nature of reality and consciousness. He says, “We are biological organisms, and there’s something miraculous about the fact that we have conscious awareness at all. I’m not religious, but I do feel that there are mysteries out there that we haven’t even begun to understand.”

Despite his scientific background, Hinton has discussed the possibility that there are mysteries in the universe that science might never fully unravel. This suggests a degree of humility in the face of the unknown, which might resonate with certain philosophical or even mystical perspectives. He has been open to the idea that aspects of consciousness and the nature of the universe may be beyond human comprehension, though he insists that scientific inquiry is the best method for understanding reality. He says, “People have asked me, ‘Do you think that machines could ever have a soul?’ My answer is that I don’t even know if people have souls, so how can I answer that for machines? . . . . I am not a religious person, but I’m open to the idea that there may be things about the universe we will never fully understand, just as there are things about consciousness we may never fully grasp.”

Hinton’s views are coupled with a profound concern for the ethical implications of the technologies he has helped create. While not religious, Hinton’s willingness to engage with questions about consciousness and the limits of science shows an intellectual curiosity that reaches beyond traditional boundaries of science, and philosophy.