AI will be 'either the best, or the worst thing, ever to happen to humanity', says Hawking

Speaking at the opening of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at Cambridge University, Stephen Hawking manages to be both alarmist and positive

Professor Stephen Hawking has sounded a warning about the dangers of developing artificial intelligence (AI), while also admitting that it could be a great positive for humankind.

Speaking at the opening of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (LCFI) at Cambridge University, an organisation set up to consider questions posed by AI research, Hawking said that AI will be "either the best, or the worst thing, ever to happen to humanity".

"We spend a great deal of time studying history," Hawking added, "which, let's face it, is mostly the history of stupidity. So it's a welcome change that people are studying instead the future of intelligence."

Hawking also emphasised the benefits that AI could bring to society.

"The potential benefits of creating intelligence are huge," he said. "We cannot predict what we might achieve when our own minds are amplified by AI. Perhaps with the tools of this new technological revolution, we will be able to undo some of the damage done to the natural world by the last one - industrialisation. And surely we will aim to finally eradicate disease and poverty.

"Every aspect of our lives will be transformed. In short, success in creating AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilisation."

There has been a bonanza on AI firm acquisitions among the big tech companies in recent years, with Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Apple in particular fighting to hoover up the best talent and technology.

Toyota recently announced a $1bn investment in a new AI research facility, while in August Intel acquired AI specialist Nervana Systems in $400m deal. Last month, Apple headhunted a top researcher in AI from Carnegie Mellon University.

While undoubtedly seen as a key technology that will improve and potentially provide huge benefits in the near future, Hawking is not alone in voicing concerns at the same time.

Earlier this year, Graham Stringer MP asked the Science and Technology Committee whether Terminators could become real any time soon.