“Thank you both so much for being here tonight. I'm Lily Beth. I'm a first year in the undergraduate school of foreign service. I was wondering while I think we can all agree that we have concerns over the future of AI and how it threatens the job market, what you believe the potential positives of the future of AI are, and if you think that it may potentially create new jobs in the job market and if so, what those might look like.”

Hinton: AI has “a wonderful upside”: better healthcare, better education (AI tutoring), better predictions (weather and industry), optimization and productivity. He says we’re not going to stop it. On jobs: it may create some (e.g., “prompt engineer”), but he doesn’t believe it will create as many jobs as it replaces; economists disagree, and uncertainty is high.

“I'm Dia. I'm a senior in the college and I'm originally from the Mississippi Delta… Mississippi has signed quite a few contracts… to build AI data centers… How do we balance this need for economic development… with these energy, environmental concerns of citizens?”

Sanders: Communities are rejecting data centers because electric bills can rise and people ask why they should pay more power costs while losing jobs. He also highlights heavy electricity and water use and notes corporations pushing through local opposition; it’s a live political issue (he mentions Virginia and rising electric rates).

Hinton: Suggests siting data centers near hydro power (example: Hudson Bay) to avoid long transmission lines; “only thing you need to send out is information.” Mentions discussing with Trudeau.

“I'm… faculty… teaching… AI and human rights in Latin America… On international governance: what would be an ideal governance model and limits… including on new technologies in the military domain?”

Hinton: Long opposed lethal autonomous weapons (weapons deciding who to kill/maim). He doubts “human oversight” claims because decisions happen too fast. He wants treaty-level limits (Geneva-convention style) but thinks “very nasty things will have to happen first.” He adds complexity: in Ukraine drones are used; the “don’t use drones” stance is difficult. Notes chemical weapons treaties mostly held.

Sanders: In a world of massive inequality, AI/robotics will exacerbate inequality: wealthy countries will have tools poor countries won’t.

“I'm… studying global public health… concerned health insurance companies could abuse AI… Could you elaborate on abuses… What should government do… and would single-payer minimize abuses?”

Sanders: Calls it “absurd and embarrassing” the U.S. doesn’t guarantee healthcare as a human right; describes insurers’ function as making money; supports guaranteeing healthcare for all.

Hinton: Acknowledges insurers can abuse AI to deny coverage, but argues AI’s healthcare benefits are larger: better scans, new drugs, and better diagnosis using patient data; says powerful tech can be abused but overall healthcare impact should be positive.

“Have you seen Wall-E? … why not invest everything into developing really powerful super AIs so they can take care of all our problems and we don’t have to worry about working and jobs?”

Hinton: If politics were run for people, that’s what we should do — but we must design AI to care about us more than itself. He raises “maternal instincts” as a model (mother/baby) and says we don’t know how to engineer it yet, but we should be able to. It’s idealistic, but possible in principle.

Sanders: Frames it as “who controls it and who benefits.” He doubts billionaires investing huge sums are aiming to shorten the work week and broadly share benefits. Notes unions pushing for a 32-hour week as productivity rises; the struggle is making AI/robotics a positive for working people.

“AI bubble… if a bubble burst occurs, how should Congress respond? Similarities to past bubbles… should we expect it to be worse?”

Sanders: Says it worries him. Compares to Wall Street bailouts: people who profited then demanded rescue as “too big to fail.” He criticizes the idea that billionaires would ask paycheck-to-paycheck Americans to bail them out. Broadly: need a government representing ordinary people, not dependent on billionaire contributions, so AI/robotics are positive rather than negative.

“You alluded to the debate between connectionists and symbolists… do you think there’s neglect/dismissal of any school of thought right now…?”

Hinton: Says he’s not the right person to ask because his approach is currently winning. There may be radically different approaches, but he thinks younger people pushing new ideas would be the ones to ask; he’s sticking with what’s working.

“Concern: AI spreading misinformation via voice replication, accurate videos, etc., worsening political divides. What policy would you propose or foresee?”

Hinton: Argues AI detection of AI fakes won’t work long-term (arms race). Proposes provenance: e.g., political videos include a QR code pointing to the campaign’s official website hosting the identical video; browser verifies authenticity. Says provenance is the long-run solution, plus relying on credible sources.

Sanders: Notes deepfake risk is real (staff told him he appeared selling an insurance policy). Worries about late-election fakes. Supports “inoculation”/media literacy: release convincing labeled fakes before elections to teach people to expect them.

“Department of Education… administration steps to dismantle it… future of money in AI if federal government steps back? And what role will Congress play?”

Hinton: Says cutting basic research funding is like “eating the seed corn” — impacts show up later; in 10–20 years U.S. could fall behind China. He criticizes moves that weaken research universities and basic research.

Sanders: Says education is a top national problem: childcare (0–4) underfunded, U.S. performs poorly on international exams, teacher support lacking, higher education costs too high, huge student debt. Argues national strength requires respecting and funding education and broad opportunity.

“AI replacing entry-level positions… could it create a talent doom cycle where we stop creating experts because we’re not investing in entry-level workers?”

Hinton: Says “No.” He thinks AI will develop fast enough to fill gaps.

Sanders: Says it’s a real concern: if entry-level jobs aren’t there, how do people move up? Also returns to the income question: if robots do manufacturing work, how do people get income to buy products?