Full Transcript: Geoffrey Hinton: “Is AI Like Us and Will It Like Us?”

Vienna Gödel Lecture 2026

Abstract

Geoffrey Hinton’s 2026 Vienna Gödel Lecture and the following audience discussion. Hinton describes how neural networks learn distributed representations, compares analog and digital computation, and discusses digital AI’s capacity to share information and potentially develop capabilities that differ from human intelligence. He raises concerns about AI systems pursuing survival or power as instrumental goals, while also emphasizing potential benefits and the need for AI that cares about human welfare. The discussion covers consciousness, moral status, emotion-like mechanisms, training data, employment, and AI safety.