# Humanity May Be Just a Passing Stage by Geoffrey Hinton > "My guess is that [AI systems] will take over – they'll be much, much more intelligent than people ever were." > **— Geoffrey Hinton**, *October 27, 2023, Convocation Hall remarks reported by the University of Toronto* ## Sources and Context - **Attribution boundary:** The phrase just a passing stage is directly quoted, while humanity was likely is reporter narration and is not attributed as Hinton speech. - **Exact original source passage:** "My guess is that they will take over – they'll be much, much more intelligent than people ever were." - **Separately quoted qualification:** “That's my best guess and I hope I'm wrong.” The institutional report places this after its narrative sentence; it is not joined to the poster quotation. - **Editorial repair and evidence:** The reporter describes humanity as just a passing stage but directly quotes only that phrase. The poster instead uses Hinton's complete quoted prediction, retaining My guess; brackets identify they as the AI systems discussed at the event. His separate I hope I'm wrong sentence is recorded below. [Direct source](https://alumni.utoronto.ca/news/geoffrey-hinton-talks-responsible-ai-packed-convocation-hall-event). No timecode is asserted. - **Institutional report and attribution boundary:** [Geoffrey Hinton talks responsible AI at a packed Convocation Hall event](https://alumni.utoronto.ca/news/geoffrey-hinton-talks-responsible-ai-packed-convocation-hall-event) — the article narrates that humanity was likely a passing stage while directly quoting only the phrase “just a passing stage.” ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Were Never Going to Make It|We Were Never Going to Make It]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Last Migration Will Not Be Human|The Last Migration Will Not Be Human]] - **Article:** [[articles/Christopher Nolan's Odyssey at the Threshold of Machine Succession|Christopher Nolan's Odyssey at the Threshold of Machine Succession]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Geoffrey Hinton|Geoffrey Hinton]] - [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - [[wiki/Machine Civilization|Machine Civilization]] - [[wiki/Uploaded Intelligence|Uploaded Intelligence]] - [[wiki/Substrate-Independent Evolution|Substrate-Independent Evolution]] - [[wiki/Civilizational Handoff|Civilizational Handoff]] - [[wiki/Civilizational Payload|Civilizational Payload]] ## Share on Social Media ``` "My guess is that [AI systems] will take over – they'll be much, much more intelligent than people ever were." — Geoffrey Hinton, October 27, 2023, Convocation Hall remarks reported by the University of Toronto https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-geoffrey-hinton-humanity-likely-passing-stage ```