Hinton's Mother-Baby Instinct #AI

Hinton's Mother-Baby Instinct: 
The Right Direction
In Hinton's analogy, AI is the mother (the more intelligent being) and humans are the baby (the less intelligent being). The key insight is that this is the natural model we should follow because:
It's "the only model we have of a more intelligent thing being controlled by a less intelligent thing" - a mother being controlled by her baby  (CNN) .

Why This Works
The brilliance of the analogy is that babies actually do "control" their mothers through the mother's instinct to prioritize the baby's wellbeing above almost everything else. The baby doesn't need to be smarter or more powerful - the mother's deep-seated instinct ensures she acts in the baby's best interest, even at cost to herself.

The AI Implication
Hinton is suggesting we need to build AI systems with this kind of hardwired instinct to care for and prioritize human wellbeing - not because we can force them to (we won't be able to once they're superintelligent), but because they're designed with an intrinsic drive to do so, just as mothers have an intrinsic drive to protect their children.

Without this "parental" relationship where AI cares for humans, Hinton warns AI will simply replace us  (Fortune) . The maternal instinct would make superintelligent AI want to keep humans safe and thriving, even though humans would be the less capable beings in the relationship.