Geoffrey Hinton

Geoffrey Hinton is the Godfather of AI and a pioneer who popularised the backpropagation algorithm for training multi-layer neural networks. Recently leaving his position as Vice President and Engineering Fellow at Google to speak freely about the dangers of AI, the distinguished emeritus professor has made headlines for stating that he regrets aspects of his life’s work. In his speaking engagements, he raises awareness of threats from AI, including misuse by malicious actors, existential risks, and technological unemployment.

One of the world’s leading Cognitive Psychologists and Computer Scientists, Geoffrey earned his BA in Experimental Psychology at King’s College, Cambridge. In 1978, he completed a PhD in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Edinburgh before joining Sussex University to complete postdoctoral work. Building on his postdoctoral work at the University of California San Diego, Geoffery then joined Carnegie-Mellon University, spending five years working in the Computer Science department as a faculty member. After serving as a fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, he became the Founding Director of the Gatsby Charitable Foundation Computational Neuroscience Unit at UCL.

First joining Google in 2013 after his company DNNresearch Inc was acquired, the Professor of Computer Science at the University of Toronto holds several prestigious positions, including Canada Research Chair in Machine Learning and Advisor for the Learning in Machines & Brains Program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. A thought leader in deep learning, Geoffrey has over 200 peer-reviewed publications in leading academic journals and has led ground-breaking work in the field of computer vision with his image-recognition milestone of the AlexNet.

In recognition of his outstanding contributions to machine learning, he has been the recipient of the IEEE/RSE Wolfson James Clerk Maxwell Award, the IJCAI for Research Excellence Lifetime Achievement Award and the Turing Award in 2018. He was also the first winner of the prestigious Rumelhart Prize in 2001. Highly respected by his peers for his distinguished expertise in using neural networks for machine learning, memory, perception and symbol processing, Geoffrey introduced a new learning algorithm for neural networks called the Forward-Forward algorithm at a conference he attended. Now he is one of the most outspoken figures on the dangers of AI, captivating audiences with the latest insights and threats in the field of machine learning.