Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel laureate known as the “godfather of AI,” warned that autonomous weapons systems could make warfare more likely by removing human casualties that typically deter military conflicts.
Rich Countries Gain Strategic Advantage
In an interview published Wednesday on Katie Couric‘s YouTube channel, Hinton said lethal autonomous weapons give wealthy nations significant advantages when considering military action against poorer countries.
“The thing that stops rich countries invading poor countries is their citizens coming back in body bags,” Hinton said. “If you have lethal autonomous weapons, instead of dead people coming back, you’ll get dead robots coming back.”
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Defense Contractors Poised to Benefit
The computer scientist, who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in October, suggested defense contractors would profit substantially from autonomous weapons systems. “That’ll be just great for the military-industrial complex because they’ll be expensive to replace,” he noted.
Major defense companies, including Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT continue developing advanced military technologies, with the Pentagon’s F-35 program carrying an estimated $1.8 trillion total cost.
AI Already Transforming Battlefields
Hinton pointed to ongoing conflicts as evidence that AI has already revolutionized warfare. He cited Ukraine as a prime example, where inexpensive drone technology is defeating traditional military hardware.
“A $500 drone can now destroy a multimillion-dollar tank,” Hinton said, referencing comments by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. “Fighter jets with people in them are a silly idea now.”
Regulatory Concerns Mount
The AI pioneer expressed concerns that arms-selling nations, including the United States, Russia, China, Britain, Israel and France, resist regulations on autonomous weapons due to economic interests.
Hinton, who left Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG in 2023 to speak freely about AI dangers, recently supported Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk‘s legal challenge against OpenAI‘s planned conversion from nonprofit to for-profit status.
Companies like Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR are already deploying AI platforms for military applications, including Ukraine’s demining operations using advanced data analytics and drone integration.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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