Late theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking said back in 2014 that artificial intelligence could destroy humanity, but scientists are choosing to ignore him (as per usual).
“The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race,” Hawking told the BBC in 2014, just four years before his death in March 2018. Back then, artificial intelligence — or “AI” — was more of a sci-fi concept to most, but thanks to the creation of programs like ChatGPT, the synthetic intelligence software is now becoming part of the norm in western society.
While Hawking himself said that the original, primitive forms of AI had been proven useful, he feared the long-term consequences of creating a technology that can compete or surpass human capabilities.
Stephen Hawking Had One Clear Warning About Aliens. Scientists Are Ignoring It https://t.co/Vik91FSc8S
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 5, 2022
“It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate,” Hawking noted. “Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be superseded.”
It’s so bizarre to read the article, which was published just under 10 years ago, and the foresight many had over the threats and degradation to society that are posed exclusively through the proliferation of the internet. Hawking’s concerns also touched upon the threat of terrorists using the internet to become command centers. However, he conceded that any attempts to control such threats could also impose upon freedom and privacy.
Hawking’s concerns on this were totally legitimate. The internet is a breeding ground for awful things and the concept of freedom and privacy within the space are almost humorous at this point in our post-COVID society.
So what does that mean for his worries about AI? Well, my gut instinct is that we’ll cannibalize ourselves through other means before AI can destroy us. (RELATED: Daily Caller’s Kay Smythe Says Society Will Be ‘Useless’ If AI Robots Take Over Journalism)
Then again, Hawking also gave a clear warning about not contacting alien species and scientists completely ignored that too. I guess we’ll just have to see what comes first! Exciting! (Not).