New Technology Could Threaten Human Survival, Says Stephen Hawking

Physicist Stephen Hawking has warned that new technologies will likely bring about “new ways things can go wrong” for human survival.
New Technology Could Threaten Human Survival, Says Stephen Hawking
Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking poses for a picture ahead of a gala screening of the documentary "Hawking," a film about the scientist's life, at the opening night of the Cambridge Film Festival in Cambridge, England, on Sept. 19, 2013. Andrew Cowie/AFP/Getty Images
Jonathan Zhou
Updated:

Physicist Stephen Hawking has warned that new technologies will likely bring about “new ways things can go wrong” for human survival.

When asked how the world will end—“naturally” or whether man would destroy it first—Hawking said that increasingly, most of the threats humanity faces come from progress made in science and technology. They include nuclear war, catastrophic global warming, and genetically engineered viruses, he said.

Jonathan Zhou
Jonathan Zhou
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Jonathan Zhou is a tech reporter who has written about drones, artificial intelligence, and space exploration.
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