Stephen Hawking's Final Warning Is On Rich Superhumans & AI, And How They Will Destroy Humanity

When renowned physicist Stephen Hawking recently passed away in March, it wasn¡¯t before penning a new book, detailing his fears about the future of humanity. In it, he talked about how we would soon be a race of ¡°superhumans¡± ruled by the wealthy.

Author of ¡®A Brief History of Time¡¯, Hawking¡¯s last book is set to release tomorrow. In anticipation of that, a few essays from ¡®Brief Answers To The Big Questions¡¯ were published in the UK, talking about the possible dangers of AI, and how gene editing could be abused.

Crispr, or Crispr-Cas9 as it¡¯s scientifically known, is an existing process that allows scientists to precisely target and edit pieces of the genome. It works like a scalpel on the molecular level, allowing us to slice out and splice in parts of the genetic code as we see fit. Right now, scientists are using it to do everything from creating bountiful new strains of rice, to reversing the signs of aging, to making our astronauts better able to traverse the depths of space, and even allowing same sex couples to conceive.

The poor are doomed to go extinct

Gene editing can be incredibly useful, particularly when you consider it can be used to eliminate inherited diseases and birth defects in embryos. None of this is an available service yet because we¡¯re still in the experimental stages, but scientists believe that¡¯s only a matter of time. But once that¡¯s the case, the question they¡¯re worried about is where do we stop?

After all, is fixing a mild visual defect in a baby acceptable? What about tailoring the embryo to make the child grow up naturally smarter? That isn¡¯t hurting anyone directly after all is it? ¡°I am sure that during this century, people will discover how to modify both intelligence and instincts such as aggression,¡± Hawking wrote in his essay.

But the problem, as Hawking explains, is that the technology is incredibly expensive, and will probably remain so for decades. Because of that, only the very wealthy will be able to afford it, offering them another unfair advantage over the poorer sections of society. And the cherry on the cake is this is still controversial because no country in the world has put regulations into place regarding how much editing of a human being is morally okay.

¡°Laws will probably be passed against genetic engineering with humans,¡± Hawking adds, ¡°But some people won¡¯t be able to resist the temptation to improve human characteristics, such as memory, resistance to disease and length of life.¡±

So when the rich strata are all editing their genomes, it won¡¯t just be about wealth anymore. Then, we¡¯d have one section of society, that already has money and power, which will now also be healthier, live longer, be born smarter, and more. We¡¯ll be divided, to use theological terms into gods and mortals on Earth. And you can probably guess which section is more likely to die off.

¡°Once such superhumans appear, there will be significant political problems with unimproved humans, who won¡¯t be able to compete,¡± Hawking wrote. ¡°Presumably, they will die out, or become unimportant. Instead, there will be a race of self-designing beings who are improving at an ever-increasing rate.¡±

Superhumans aren't the only worry

In years past, Hawking has also expressed his alarm over the potential threat posed by artificial intelligence, something he¡¯s put into the essay as well.

¡°The advent of super-intelligent AI would be either the best or the worst thing ever to happen to humanity,¡± he wrote. ¡°The real risk with AI isn¡¯t malice, but competence. A super-intelligent AI will be extremely good at accomplishing its goals, and if those goals aren¡¯t aligned with ours we¡¯re in trouble.¡±

Hawking isn¡¯t worried about an AI going rogue, and rightly so. Instead, he fears its unrestricted development by humans that inherently make mistakes, and that too without any sort of oversight. ¡°AI could be the worst invention of the history of our civilisation, that brings dangers like powerful autonomous weapons or new ways for the few to oppress the many,¡± he¡¯s said in the past. That¡¯s why he insisted that developers need to focus on the benefits their AI brings to society, and not just how powerful they can make it.