AI critic wins Nobel Prize… for AI: BBC Learning English from the News

From BBC Learning English.

This is Learning English from the News. Our podcast

about the news headlines. In

this programme: AI critic wins Nobel prize... for AI.

Hello, I'm Georgie.

And I'm Pippa.

In this programme, we look at one big news story

and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode,

as well as a worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

So, let's hear more about this story.

The Nobel Prize in Physics, a famous science award,

has been given to two scientists, Geoffrey Hinton and John Hopfield,

for their work on machine learning.

Machine learning is a kind of technology which is used by a lot

of artificial intelligence software.

And so the scientists' work is very important

for a lot of modern technology.

But one of the winners of the award, Geoffrey Hinton, now believes

that AI technology could be dangerous in the future.

Let's have our first headline.

This one's from the Evening Standard in the UK.

Godfather of AI who warned technology could end humanity wins Nobel Prize.

OK, let's hear that again.

Godfather of AI who warned technology could end

humanity wins Nobel Prize.

And that's from the Evening Standard in the UK.

This headline is talking about Geoffrey Hinton, who's won the Nobel Prize

for his work, even though he now thinks it could be dangerous.

Now the headline calls him The Godfather of AI.

Now, godfather, I have one of those.

Isn't it supposed to be your spiritual guide?

Yes. Godfather in some cultures is chosen by parents when they have a baby.

But the headline isn't talking about this kind of godfather,

and it isn't talking about the kind of godfather who leads the gang

in the violent film, either.

OK, so, Pippa, what does it mean?

Well, when we call someone The Godfather of something,

we mean that they started or developed a new idea or thing.

That's right. So we hear this a lot in art and music.

So someone might be The Godfather of Soul

or The Godfather of Impressionist Art, for example.

Yes. So in the headline, Geoffrey Hinton is called The Godfather of AI.

It just means people think his work was the start of AI and is really important.

Without him, AI it might not exist at all.

We've had Godfather of... someone who started

or developed a new idea or thing.

OK, for example, many people regard the director

as the Godfather of Modern Cinema.

This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

Today we're talking about a Nobel Prize winner who is now scared

of the technology he worked on.

As we've discussed, Geoffrey Hinton, one

of the winners of the Nobel Prize,

is very famous for his work on AI.

Now, he said he was flabbergasted about the award.

That just means really shocked.

He's often called The Godfather of AI because his work was essential

for many people using AI today who believe it could change the world.

OK, let's have another headline.

This one is from The Mirror

in the UK. Brit scientist Geoffrey Hinton, dubbed 'The Godfather of AI',

wins Nobel Prize for physics.

That headline, again from The Mirror in the UK.

Brit scientist Geoffrey Hinton, dubbed 'The Godfather of AI',

wins Nobel Prize for physics.

Now we learned what The Godfather of AI means in the last headline,

but what about this word dubbed?

What does it mean to dub someone something?

Well, dub is a very old English word, and it has kind of a royal meaning.

Think of kings and queens.

It means to give someone an honour.

So if the King or Queen dubbed someone a knight,

that meant they held a ceremony and gave them a name and sometimes money or land.

OK, so has the King called the Nobel Prize winner The Godfather of AI

in a special ceremony, then?

No. In the headline, dubbed is more metaphorical.

Here we use dubbed to mean

given a particular name describing their achievements or personality.

OK, so Geoffrey Hinton has been dubbed The Godfather of AI.

He's been given that name by lots of people. Exactly.

And there are a few common expressions we use with dubbed.

All of them are metaphorical,

just like The Godfather of AI. We often use royal titles.

Elvis is often dubbed The King of Rock and Roll.

Madonna is sometimes dubbed The Queen of Pop.

Yes, and we also hear father, godfather, like in the story,

and godmother and mother too.

For example, Florence Nightingale is dubbed The Mother of Modern Nursing

because of her work during the Crimean War.

We've had dubbed - given a name describing their achievements.

For example, I've been dubbed The Queen of Karaoke

after my performance at the work Christmas party.

You are The Queen of Karaoke, Pippa.

This is Learning English from the News from BBC Learning English.

We're talking about a Nobel Prize winner who has warned

about the impact of the technology that made him famous.

So, Geoffrey Hinton worked on technology which made him The Godfather of AI.

But now he often warns about the tech he helped to create.

Yes. In 2023, Professor Hinton quit his job at Google

and said that AI was dangerous.

He said that one day we might not be able to control AI technology

and that it could destroy humanity.

And we have a headline about his warnings.

This one's from Politico, a European news website.

AI Doomsayer wins Nobel Prize for key research.

OK, let's hear that again.

AI doomsayer wins Nobel Prize for key research.

And that's from Politico.

We're interested in the word doomsayer.

Can you tell us more, Georgie?

Yes, let's split it up a bit.

So the first part of the word is doom,

and that means a bad situation that can't be avoided.

And the second part is sayer.

That's just someone who says something.

OK, so a doomsayer is someone that says bad things are going to happen.

Yes. So the headline describes Geoffrey Hinton as a doomsayer

because of his predictions about the dangers of artificial intelligence.

Right, so are there any other ways we can use this?

Yes. Well, we often talk about lots of doomsayers.

Lots of people that say something bad is going to happen or things won't go well,

and who turn out to be wrong.

So I could say that despite all the doomsayers,

my plan for a picnic in October went really well.

It didn't rain at all.

OK, doomsayer, Godfather of AI...

It feels like there are a lot of dramatic names in this story.

Yes, this language is used to make the story more exciting

and show that even though artificial intelligence is very complicated

and hard for us to understand,

there are a lot of opinions about how it will change the future.

We've had doomsayer - someone who says bad things will happen.

For example:

lots of people thought the CEO was a doomsayer,

but he turned out to be right about the company's financial situation.

That's it for this episode of Learning English from the News.

We'll be back next week with another news story.

If you like stories about AI, we have lots of episodes

of 6 Minute English all about how technology is changing the world.

Listen and learn useful vocabulary on our website bbclearningenglish.com.

And don't forget to check us out on social media.

Just search BBC Learning English on your favourite social media platform.

Goodbye for now. Bye.