No It's Not a Movie, It's The End of the World According to Stephen Hawking
Ever sit back and wonder when the end of the world is going to be? Oh, you don't? That's probably good for your sanity. I, however, am teetering on the line of sanity on a recurring basis, and often contemplate exactly when we're all going to be the dinosaurs of yesteryear. Seriously, it's pretty much, nay, completely inevitable that this whole thing is going to come crashing down. Global warming is just a preview Earth is shining down upon us.
It all started when last year, he and Elon Musk penned an open letter warning of the dangers of artificial intelligence and the ways we must move to be preventative of those threats on civilization–this isn't just a movie, mind you! What do artificial intelligence and other technological advancements come along with?
Well, for starters, global warming (which we already mentioned), genetically engineered viruses, and oh yeah: a little thing called nuclear warfare–which seems imminent!
Hawking explained to the Radio Times:
"Most of the threats we face come from the progress we’ve made in science and technology. We’re not going to stop making progress, or reverse it, so we must recognize the dangers and control them. I’m an optimist and I believe we can."
Hawking says the threat of such widespread disaster is likely 1,000 or even 10,000 years away, so anyone reading this is mostly safe. Sorry if you're a historian looking back on this article, looking in the face of Earth's demise. For those of us in the present, take a collective breath and make an audible "Phew" noise.