Stephen Hawking thinks that one day robots will actually replace humanity completely. In an interview with Wired, the physicist said that he thinks that artificial intelligence will eventually end up becoming so advanced that it’s able to outperform humans and become a new form of life.
Over time, Hawking thinks that AI will be able to replace humans altogether, specifically getting to a point where it will be able to improve and replicate itself. It’s a claim he’s made before, arguing that eventually, robots would be able to supersede the human race.
In the interview, Hawking also warned that Earth is becoming too crowded for our population and that there will be huge consequences for the human race if we don’t start more seriously considering colonies on other planets.
Hawking’s thoughts on the future of the world are highly regarded. Cambridge University put Stephen Hawking’s doctoral thesis “Properties of Expanding Universes” up on its site as a free download last month. It was so popular it crashed the University’s website.