Stephen Hawking: Artificial Intelligence Could 'End the Human Race'
In a recent interview, the scientist said that if gone unchecked, AI could 'supersede' mankind.
By Nina Zipkin •
It looks like Elon Musk has good company when it comes to fearing artificial intelligence. That person is tech and science genius Stephen Hawking.
In a recent interview with the BBC, Hawking said the development of full artificial intelligence "could spell the end of the human race."
Hawking added that the AI could "take off on its own," and continually re-design and update itself, unchecked. "Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded."
Remember Skynet from the Terminator movies? Not cool.
Related: Artificial Intelligence Has Elon Musk Deeply Concerned
Meanwhile, SpaceX and Tesla co-founder Elon Musk has been especially vocal about his fears, even describing artificial intelligence as human kind's "biggest existential threat." In an interview this summer with CNBC, he said that while he invests in AI companies like DeepMind and Vicarious, his motivation for doing so is mainly to "keep an eye" on things -- though his solution for if things go south, perhaps unsurprisingly, is to head to Mars.
Though, you have to wonder what Hawking -- who teaches at the University of Cambridge -- thinks about his alma mater's foray into AI – as Google recently announced a partnership with Oxford University to expand its artificial intelligence initiative.
