Here’s the Intel; Stephen Hawking fears robots could wipe us out
Published: 30 June 2015 (GMT+10)
We have reported in Creation magazine that the famous physicist Stephen Hawking was concerned that tampering with the ‘God particle’ (Higgs boson) could end the world.1 Now he has issued another dire warning: mankind is doomed if artificial intelligence takes over because we won’t be able to ‘evolve’ quickly enough to deal with it.2
His pronouncement came after electronics giant Intel released new technology that actually helps him speak by predicting words he may next use. He needs the electronics machine because he is paralysed with the debilitating disorder Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS (see also creation.com/hawking and creation.com/als).
Concerned at such advancements in technology, Hawking said: “Once humans develop artificial intelligence, it would take off on its own and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete and would be superseded.”
Such pronouncements are perhaps not surprising given that for Prof. Hawking, evolution is a fact and, therefore, that we are mere biological machines, the offspring of primordial pond scum.
Of course he also rejects the idea there is a Creator God in charge of mankind’s ultimate destiny. But it should be pointed out that it is never too late for Prof. Hawking to turn from his atheism and accept Christ, just as his first wife Jane did.3
References and notes
- Hawking fears ‘God particle’ may kill us all, Creation 37(2):7, April 2015. Return to text.
- Professor Stephen Hawking warns development of artificial intelligence could mean end of human race, abc.net.au, 3 December 2014. Return to text.
- Bergman, J., Stephen Hawking: the closed mind of a dogmatic atheist, J. Creation 19(3):29–33, December 2005, creation.com/jane-hawking. Return to text.
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