Geoffrey Hinton, the computer scientist often called the “godfather of AI,” said Russia’s war in Ukraine has changed how he thinks about the use of artificial intelligence on the battlefield.
“I think it’s more complicated than I used to think,” Hinton told NBC News in an interview published on Tuesday.
Hinton has for years warned against military applications of AI and previously pushed for an international ban on lethal autonomous weapons.
“I used to think that we should try very hard to prevent lethal autonomous weapons, but if you look at what’s happening in Ukraine, it becomes much more complicated,” Hinton said in the interview.
Hinton said that the pivotal role of drones, including AI-enabled ones, has played in Ukraine’s defense against invading Russian forces made him more receptive to the military use of the technology.
“Ukraine is surviving because of drones,” Hinton told the news outlet. “If that’s what modern warfare is all about, it’s very hard to argue that one country should refuse to do it.”
While Ukraine has used AI-powered drones against Russian targets, its defense relies on the large and constant production of munitions, including drones that are largely piloted and directed by humans.
Despite acknowledging the value of AI-driven systems on the battlefield, Hinton said he’s still uneasy about the technology’s role in modern warfare, calling it “a mess.”
Combat in Ukraine has fueled visions of future warfare, like machine gun turrets that select their own targets or flying drones that hunt down human beings. By removing human direction and decision-making, AI offers the possibility of killing more people much faster.
As AI capabilities continue to advance, Hinton said the public must stay engaged in the development of the technology.
“The only thing that’s going to rein in those big AI companies is public pressure,” Hinton said, adding, “I see my mission as educating the public, so they understand the dangers of AI, as well as understanding the good things.”
Hinton was unavailable for further comment, his assistant told Business Insider in an email.
Over the past decade, employees at tech companies including Google and Microsoft have pushed back against defense-related projects, including some involving AI.
Last week, President Donald Trump signed a directive aimed at accelerating the development and use of AI for national security purposes.
AI, the National Security Presidential Memorandum reads, “will be among the most transformative technologies to national security in the history of the United States.”
“When adopted appropriately, AI can help protect our warfighters during peacetime and on the battlefield, enable precise operations that minimize harm to civilians, and ensure the United States continues to maintain technical overmatch against our adversaries and strategic competitors,” the memo says.
The Trump administration has pushed for unfettered AI use for national security. The Pentagon took the unprecedented move of labeling the US company Anthropic a supply chain risk after it requested that its Claude AI not be used on autonomous weapons, and it gutted an office meant to reduce harm to civilians during war.
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