Professor Stephen Hawking has died aged 76. Leading up to his death the theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author issued a warning to say that humanity could be wiped out by a number of disasters, including climate change, over-population or AI.
However, he was hopeful that future generations would be able to go off into space to ensure the survival of the species.
Speaking at the Starmus science festival last year, he said: "I am convinced that humans need to leave earth. The Earth is becoming too small for us, our physical resources are being drained at an alarming rate."
"We have given our planet the disastrous gift of climate change, rising temperatures, the reducing of polar ice caps, deforestation and decimation of animal species.
"When we have reached similar crisis in or history there has usually been somewhere else to colonise. Columbus did it in 1492 when he discovered the new world. But now there is no new world. No Utopia around the corner. We are running out of space and the only places to go to are other worlds."
He also said the chance of an asteroid strike hitting Earth is 'guaranteed by the laws of physics and probability'.
Speaking again about the need to move into space, he said "Spreading out into space will completely change the future of humanity. It may also determine whether we have any future at all.
"Wherever we go we will need to build a civilisation, we will need to take the practical means of establishing a whole new ecosystem that will survive in an environment that we know very little about, and we will need to consider transporting several thousands of people, animals, plants, fungi, bacteria and insects."
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During a Reddit AMA in 2015, he spoke about the potential dangers of AI, saying: "The real risk with AI isn't malice but competence. A superintelligent AI will be extremely good at accomplishing its goals, and if those goals aren't aligned with ours, we're in trouble.
"You're probably not an evil ant-hater who steps on ants out of malice, but if you're in charge of a hydroelectric green energy project and there's an anthill in the region to be flooded, too bad for the ants. Let's not place humanity in the position of those ants."
Source: The Telegraph; Reddit
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