Five of Stephen Hawking’s wildest predictions about the future
Stephen Hawking was a great astrophysicist who inspired us. The visionary physicist is an intellectual leader in the study of black holes, quantum mechanics and physical cosmology. He made us laugh. It made us curious. It makes us imagine. Hawking is passionate about protecting humanity, and he anticipates that humanity will face many challenges in the coming years.
Here are some of his most shocking predictions:
1) AI may be the “worst thing” that has ever happened to a human being:
Hawking recognizes the huge opportunities we have as a result of advances in artificial intelligence, but also warns of the dangers. Hawking said at Web Summit. “We do not know if we will be endlessly helped by AI. Or being ignored by it, marginalized or destroyed by it.
Hawking said that the primitive forms of artificial intelligence developed so far have been very useful to humans. Indeed, it is enough to combine the basic forms of artificial intelligence. But Hawking worries about the consequences of advanced machine intelligence that can compete with or exceed human beings.
Because if AI empowered infinite learning, it would give birth to “a new kind of life that goes beyond human beings.”
2) Humans need to leave the earth:
“If we need to go on for another million years, our future lies in a bright place where no one has been before,” said Hawking. We are running out of space and the only place to go is other worlds. Now is the time to explore other solar systems.
According to Hawking, the Earth is in danger of experiencing astronomical events such as asteroids, superpowers, overpopulation and natural disasters. “Spread may be the only thing that will save us. I firmly believe that humanity needs to come off the planet.”
3) If aliens come across us, we should run:
Hawking believes that when humans inevitably encounter aliens, we should run away. Hawking said: “I imagine aliens might exist in huge spaceships that have exhausted all of their planet’s resources at home. Maybe these advanced aliens should become nomads, trying to conquer and colonize whatever they can reach the planet. ”
He warned against aggressive attempts at any possible alien civilization. “If aliens visit us, the result will be the same as when Columbus landed in America, which is not good for Native Americans,” he said.
4) Climate change could announce the end of our planet:
Global warming will be one of the greatest threats to life on Earth. Hawking joins many scientists in claiming that climate change could announce the end of our planet. Of course, climate change could kill us all, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will happen. According to Hawking, we are not yet at the end of the world – it depends on our actions and ingenuity.
5) We may not encounter aliens anytime soon:
Despite his fears of alien civilizations, Hawking did not say that an alien invasion would happen anytime soon. In April 2016, he explained at a conference that aliens may not be for at least the next 20 years. The likelihood of finding alien life is low. But Kepler’s mission findings suggest that there are billions of habitable planets in our galaxy alone. So it seems there are others out there.