Nobel Prize laureate Geoffrey Hinton is known for his hyperbolic pessimism about the very technology he helped pioneer. Earlier, I summarized that he “doesn’t hold much hope for regulations and guardrails, but he still urges that we must not give up on seeking alignment. He suggests that we must eventually experiment with AI systems to test their general intelligence and observe if they attempt to take over control. For him, the worst-case scenario would be if AI systems could undergo evolutionary processes. If multiple superintelligent AI systems were to compete, they might replicate themselves to gain an advantage, eventually posing a severe risk to humanity.”
As shown in the video above, in a recent interview, Hinton succinctly responded to the question of how to control AI so that it serves society with a single word: “Socialism.” That is to say, Hinton doesn't believe that the market or Big Tech will act in the public interest, but that the government has the capacity to do so. And in general, it's true: who protects the people from capital? The government. Who protects the people from the government? Democratic institutions and elections. But what happens when none of this works as it should?
Above skepticism is warranted. According to the newly released Democracy Perception Index 2025, China is viewed more favorably than the United States across a wide range of countries—including U.S. neighbors Canada and Mexico, as well as all western European EU members. The survey, conducted by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, indicates that global perceptions of the U.S. have declined, with its net favorability dropping from +22% in the previous year to -5%, while China's net favorability improved from +5% to +14% . The survey also reveals that President Trump is less popular globally than both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump is viewed negatively in 82 of the 100 countries surveyed, compared to 61 for Putin and 44 for Xi.
Survey results: https://www.niradata.com/dpi
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