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Game over for human race? Alternatively, why are these people world’s smartest scientists?

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According to Stephen Hawking, we’re all doomed!:

The eminent British physicist Stephen Hawking warns that the development of intelligent machines could pose a major threat to humanity.

“The development of full artificial intelligence (AI) could spell the end of the human race,” Hawking told the BBC.

The famed scientist’s warnings about AI came in response to a question about his new voice system. Hawking has a form of the progressive neurological disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease), and uses a voice synthesizer to communicate. Recently, he has been using a new system that employs artificial intelligence. Developed in part by the British company Swiftkey, the new system learns how Hawking thinks and suggests words he might want to use next, according to the BBC. [Super-Intelligent Machines: 7 Robotic Futures]

As a friend says, nice knowing you all… after all this time. By the way, it flopped in Canada, if that matters. Follow UD News at Twitter!

Comments
As John Lennox says "Nonsense is still nonsense even if Stephen Hawking says it!" Yup!! Unbelievable how much press this got for something so trivial and, frankly, comical!DonaldM
December 8, 2014
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Is the human race a race?? whats a race? i thought we included neanderthals? Anyways. AI is not intelligence. its always just a search engine., Its always just a machine based on programs which are dumb operations without thought. Intelligence is about thinking. its not just a dead memory machine. There is nothing to fear or care about great computers doing even greater things. Its harmless. Come on now. think it through futurists.Robert Byers
December 7, 2014
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"Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. 34"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 'Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.' With more money than they can ever use, but I'd be surprised if the challenge of ending with the most toys doesn't find them seeking to pay as little taxation as possible. Such worldly intelligence, such wealth, but in the end, pea-brains and empty hearts.Axel
December 7, 2014
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Mapou @5
It’s what you get when you take materialism to extremes.
No, that's what we get when we search for wisdom in the wrong places. There's only one source of true wisdom, which is priceless. Everything else can be purchased with VISA or MasterCard. :)Dionisio
December 7, 2014
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Stephen Hawking is a card carrying member of the Church of the Technological Singularity. They've been making these apocalyptic prophecies for at least a decade. The church is extremely well funded and has many famous and filthy rich Silicon Valley members such as Elon Musk, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Ray Kurzweil, Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Diamandis and many others. It's a laughable and elitist cult in the not-even-wrong category. They believe, among other things, that they will gain immortality by transferring the contents of their brain's neural network to a machine. It's what you get when you take materialism to extremes.Mapou
December 7, 2014
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Seversky, the Old Testament tells of a Big Bang and expanding universe, the New Testament tells of the end of the world. Fine tuned for Armageddon. Be afraid. "The new system learns how Hawking thinks and suggests words he might want to use next." Why doesn't the system tell him to shut up. Or how about "we will defeat you, human."ppolish
December 7, 2014
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A hundred quatloos on the humans!!Zachriel
December 7, 2014
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Yep this has been big news on the BBC ... I don't question Hawking's intelligence, but when materialism is your guiding philosophy, guess this is the kind of stuff you come out with !Chimera
December 7, 2014
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There are a lot of things that could spell the end of the human race: runaway "greenhouse" effect, supervolcanoes, meteorite impact, nearby supernova, wandering black hole to name but a few. It's nice to know we live in a Universe so finely-tuned to provide a nice, safe home for us.Seversky
December 7, 2014
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