Hawking fears artificial intelligence could end mankind
Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has warned the world of the dangers of creating artificial intelligence "smarter than us", saying efforts to create thinking machines could pose a threat to our very existence.
The British scientist told the BBC: “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race."
His warning came in response to a question about a revamp of the technology he uses to communicate, a system that will be made available online, in an open source format, from January. The technology made by Intel uses a basic form of artificial intelligence that could help millions of motor neurone disease sufferers.
However Hawking, who suffers from as similar disease called Lou Gehrig’s, says he fears the consequences of creating something that can match or surpass human thinking.
"It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate," he said.
"Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded.
In his BBC interview, Prof Hawking talked about both the benefits and the dangers of this type of advances in technology.
He quotes the director of GCHQ (Government Communication Headquarters) warning that the internet is fast becoming the command centre for terrorists:
"More must be done by the internet companies to counter the threat, but the difficulty is to do this without sacrificing freedom and privacy."
The wheelchair-bound theoretical physicist, who shot to international fame in the 1980s with his book "A Brief History of Time", does still believe that technology can help the world. Of his new speech system made by Intel, he said:
"By making this technology freely available, it has the potential to greatly improve the life of disabled people all over the world," said Hawking, his words relayed by the robotic voice of his computer.
"Without this, I would not be able to speak to you today," said the 72-year-old, who was diagnosed at the age of 21 with ALS.
Hawking, who teaches at Cambridge University, can write on his computer using a cheek sensor, which is detected by an infrared switch mounted to his glasses and helps him select characters.
His current system, developed by Intel over the past three years, reduces the number of moves needed to spell out words, as well as giving him new functions for the first time such as sending email attachments.
However his computer-generated voice is here to stay and has not changed in the latest update.
Prof Hawking concedes that it's slightly robotic, but insists he didn't want a more natural voice.
"It has become my trademark, and I wouldn't change it for a more natural voice with a British accent," he said.
The British company SwiftKey has also digitised all his works to help the computer guess more quickly what he is trying to say.
Hawking, who is almost entirely paralysed, has demonstrated the new system in public for the first time.
In a press release, he said: "Medicine has not been able to cure me, so I rely on technology to help me communicate and live."
