Hawking’s robot doomsday fears

STEPHEN Hawking has warned the rise of intelligent machines could lead to the ‘worst event in the history of civilisation’ unless humans put proper safeguards in place.

The British scientist, 75, said artificial intelligence (AI) could help solve problems such as poverty and disease, but could also lead to new dangers – such as drones programmed to attack targets without human permission.

Speaking to technology industry leaders in Lisbon, Professor Hawking said: ‘Success in creating effective AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilization, or the worst. We just don’t know. So we cannot know if we will be infinitely helped by AI or ignored by it and sidelined or conceivably destroyed by it.’

World leaders will next week discuss a potential ‘killer robot’ ban at a meeting of the UN.