The Godfather of AI wants an FDA-style approval system for the technology - Business Insider Africa

An article published by africa.businessinsider.com under the headline 'The Godfather of AI wants an FDA-style approval system for the technology' reports that Geoffrey Hinton, described in the article and headline as a Nobel Prize-winning computer scientist and the 'godfather of AI', proposed that AI companies be required to convince a regulator their products are safe before releasing them. According to the article, he made the proposal during an appearance on the Smart Girl Dumb Questions podcast.

The article states that Hinton compared the idea to the FDA drug-approval process. He said of the proposal, 'that seems like the very least we should have for AI.' The article also quotes him saying, 'We're beginning to get recursive self-improvement because AI is being used to make AI better in many different ways.'

The article presents Hinton's remarks as his own position rather than as a description of pending legislation. It does not name a specific agency, country, bill or timeline for the approval system he describes, and it does not say whether any regulator or government has responded to the proposal. The headline applies Hinton's 'godfather of AI' nickname to frame the proposal, and the article pairs the two quoted remarks — the call for pre-release approval and the observation that AI is being used to improve AI — as coming from the same podcast conversation. No further detail is given on how such an approval process would be staffed, funded or enforced.