Stephen Hawking: "Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete and would be superseded

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Prof Stephen Hawking, one of Britain's pre-eminent scientists, has said that efforts to create thinking machines pose a threat to our very existence.

He told the BBC:"The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human ."
His warning came in response to a question about a revamp of the technology he uses to communicate, which involves a basic form of AI.
But others are less gloomy about AI's prospects.
The theoretical physicist, who has the motor neurone disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is using a new system developed by Intel to speak.
Machine learning experts from the British company Swiftkey were also involved in its creation. Their technology, already employed as a smartphone keyboard app, learns how the professor thinks and suggests the words he might want to use next.
Prof Hawking says the primitive forms of artificial intelligence developed so far have already proved very useful, but he fears the consequences of creating something that can match or surpass humans.

Stanley Kubrick's film 2001 and its murderous computer HAL encapsulate many people's fears of how AI could pose a threat to human life

"It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate," he said.

Cleverbot is software that is designed to chat like a human would

"Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded."
But others are less pessimistic.
"I believe we will remain in charge of the technology for a decently long time and the potential of it to solve many of the world problems will be realised," said Rollo Carpenter, creator of Cleverbot.
Cleverbot's software learns from its past conversations, and has gained high scores in the Turing test, fooling a high proportion of people into believing they are talking to a human.
Rise of the robots Mr Carpenter says we are a long way from having the computing power or developing the algorithms needed to achieve full artificial intelligence, but believes it will come in the next few decades.
"We cannot quite know what will happen if a machine exceeds our own intelligence, so we can't know if we'll be infinitely helped by it, or ignored by it and sidelined, or conceivably destroyed by it," he says.
But he is betting that AI is going to be a positive force.
Prof Hawking is not alone in fearing for the future.
In the short term, there are concerns that clever machines capable of undertaking tasks done by humans until now will swiftly destroy millions of jobs.

Elon Musk, chief executive of rocket-maker Space X, also fears artificial intelligence

In the longer term, the technology entrepreneur Elon Musk has warned that AI is "our biggest existential threat".
Robotic voice In his BBC interview, Prof Hawking also talks of the benefits and dangers of the internet.
He quotes the director of GCHQ's warning about the net becoming the command centre for terrorists: "More must be done by the internet companies to counter the threat, but the difficulty is to do this without sacrificing freedom and privacy."
He has, however, been an enthusiastic early adopter of all kinds of communication technologies and is looking forward to being able to write much faster with his new system.

Prof Hawking is using new software to speak, but has opted to keep the same voice

But one aspect of his own tech - his computer generated voice - has not changed in the latest update.
Prof Hawking concedes that it's slightly robotic, but insists he didn't want a more natural voice.
"It has become my trademark, and I wouldn't change it for a more natural voice with a British accent," he said.
"I'm told that children who need a computer voice, want one like mine."

WATCH: Prof Murray Shanahan provides a brief introduction to AI

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Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu seeks early general election

srael's prime minister has sacked his finance and justice ministers and declared he wants parliament dissolved, triggering an early general election.

Benjamin Netanyahu said Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni had "harshly attacked" both himself and the coalition government.
Mr Netanyahu explained that he wanted an election two years early to win "a clear mandate to lead Israel".
Disagreements over a series of economic and political policies have strained relations within the coalition.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Mr Netanyahu said it was "impossible" to lead the government with the current coalition, describing Ms Livni and Mr Lapid's activities as a "putsch".
"I will not tolerate an opposition within the government anymore," he said.
"I will not tolerate ministers attacking government policy from within the government, attacking its leader, motivated by political interests, and being irresponsible at a national level."

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid said the elections were "unnecessary"

Analysis: Kevin Connolly, BBC News, Jerusalem Israeli voters are no strangers to transitory coalition administrations - the current government is the 32nd they've seen in the 67 years since the foundation of the state.
But it is almost certainly destined to be one of the shortest-lived; it is only two years since the last parliamentary elections here.
The last few weeks have seen a sharp rise in tensions between key partners in the current right-of-centre coalition.
Mr Netanyahu is thought to regard Mr Lapid as being too ambitious for comfort.
He may be hoping to return to power at the head of a re-formulated coalition in which the finance minister's secular party would be replaced with a religious block representing the interest of ultra-orthodox Jews.

Ms Livni reportedly accused the prime minister of cowardice in his sacking of her

'Act of cowardice' Mr Netanyahu's comments come after talks with Mr Lapid - who leads Yesh Atid, the centrist party that is the second largest in the governing coalition - ended without an agreement on Monday night.
Mr Netanyahu and his ministers have disagreed about the content of a bill designed to strengthen the Jewish nature of the Israeli state and over a proposed tax break for first-time home buyers, which Mr Lapid regards as his signature issue.
Yesh Atid called Netanyahu's decision to fire the two "an act of cowardice and loss of control".
Mr Lapid told an economic conference that the prime minister had "decided to take Israel to unnecessary elections".
Ms Livni, who leads the centrist Hatnua party, has also been a critic of the Jewish state bill.
As speculation about an election mounted, Ms Livni accused Mr Netanyahu of "extremism, provocativeness and paranoia".
The government did not know how to fight terrorism while also "upholding freedom and Zionism", she added.

Mr Netanyahu and his ministers disagreed about strengthening the Jewish nature of the Israeli state

After Mr Netanyahu's news conference, Ms Livni reportedly accused the prime minister of cowardice in his sacking of her, saying that he "didn't even dare to look me in the eye to fire me", and she denied there was a "putsch" against him.
Polls Israeli MPs are expected to vote on a bill to dissolve the parliament on Wednesday.
Under Israeli electoral law, voting would probably take place in mid-March if the Knesset were to be dissolved this week.
Television polls have predicted Mr Netanyahu will again be returned as prime minister in new elections.
In the West Bank, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said opinion polls indicated the next Israeli government might be "more right wing and extreme", the Associated Press reported. He said this could bolster international support for the Palestinian cause.
The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, said he would not comment on Israeli politics.
But he said he hoped for a government that could "negotiate and move towards resolving the differences between Israelis and Palestinians".
The breakdown of the Israeli coalition government comes amid worsening relations with the Palestinians, following this summer's Gaza conflict and growing unrest in Jerusalem.

 

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The Asturian coach made more tactical tweaks on Sunday and the Catalans complicated things far too much before Sergio Busquets saved the day in added time

In a Barcelona starting XI which included Lionel mesi , Neymar and Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets was the unlikely hero in Sunday's clash, smashing home the winning goal to give Luis Enrique's side a hard-fought 1-0 win in Valencia. However, as the midfielder came off the pitch, the television interviewer asked what many had been thinking as his team toiled at Mestalla: "What were you trying to do out there?"

It was a good question. Barca, back on form with resounding wins over Sevilla and APOEL in its last two fixtures, was well off the pace again in this match. "We will struggle again," Luis Enrique predicted last week. But the Barca boss surely couldn't have imagined his team would struggle so soon.

Found out for his tactics in the Clasico clash at the Santiago Bernabeu last month, Luis Enrique again got it wrong in a big game. Messi, at his brilliant best with back-to-back hat tricks against in his last two games, was out on the wing early on with Suarez in the center, while a midfield double pivot of Javier Mascherano and Sergio Busquets saw the Catalans lose much of their habitual creativity against a solid Valencia side.

Another day, another experiment. Busquets played further forward, with Xavi out on the left. "Busquets is playing in Xavi's role and Xavi is playing the Busquets role," commented former Liverpool striker Michael Robinson on Canal Plus. "It's strange to see." Mestalla, one of La Liga's toughest grounds, was surely not the place for such tactical tinkering.

After a poor first half, Barca was even worse early in the second period. Suarez squandered two glorious chances to put his team in front, doing everything right until he was required to do exactly what he was bought to Barcelona for: score goals.

Ivan Rakitic, inexplicably overlooked despite being rested in the midweek Champions League clash, was left on the bench, but Barca improved immediately when the Croatia international came on for Jeremy Mathieu and Mascherano reverted to a defensive role after 63 minutes.

Suarez finally put the ball in the net five minutes later and was incorrectly ruled offside after the midfield balance returned with Rakitic on the pitch.

In the end, Busquets' late winner following a spell of late pressure saved Barca's blushes. But some strange tactical decisions by Luis Enrique, a midfield missing creativity and a forward line lacking movement and at times completely static, will have frustrated fans who are already growing impatient with their team's poor performances in recent weeks.

"We played a good match," Luis Enrique said afterwards. "We were imprecise at times, but we had control of the play. We had faith right until the end and we were worthy winners."

Perhaps. But just like in the defeats to Real Madrid and Celta Vigo, and the dire display at Almeria which his side eventually won 2-1 earlier in November, Luis Enrique played into the opposition's hands with unnecessary tactical tweaks. This time there was a happy ending. Next time, there might not be.

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