Risk of Earth 'running out of people' because of AI

The future of Earth will be partly decided by AI. Photo: Freepik .

In an online post, Oklahoma State University computer science professor Subhash Kak predicted a grim scenario that Earth will have only 100 million people left by the year 2300.

The main cause comes from AI, when this technology wipes out a series of jobs and turns big cities into "no man's land".

He said AI would replace everything, increasing the cost of raising children beyond imagination, because children would have no jobs to do when they grow up. That would mean the world's greatest cities like New York and London would become deserted.

The author of The Age of Artificial Intelligence predicts that the global population will fall to roughly the current size of the UK, around 70 million people.

“Computers or robots will never be conscious, but they will do almost everything humans do, because most of them can be replaced,” said Professor Subhash Kak.

This is not just empty talk, or bias from an individual, Professor Kak explained that he has collected enough data in his book. One of the evidences mentioned is the rapid development speed of AI in recent times.

Take ChatGPT, for example, a tool launched in 2022 that has become an integral part of many people’s learning and working activities. However, that integration has raised alarm bells about the future job market.

In March, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said more and more jobs were being replaced by AI, as she announced plans to cut public sector staff.

Claude AI developer Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, also commented on the prospect of AI eliminating half of office jobs. He warned politicians and business owners to stop “glossing” mass layoffs and be honest with workers about the existential threat of AI.

“Cancer is cured, the economy is growing 10% a year, the budget is balanced, but 20% of people are unemployed,” Amodei said. This is a record high because even severe macroeconomic imbalances like Covid will only result in 7-8% unemployment.

Professor Kak, who has also written several books on historical judgment, believes that the birth rate will fall sharply because people will be reluctant to have children, knowing that their children will likely be unemployed when they grow up. “Europe, China, Japan are all doing this. The fastest population decline is in South Korea,” he said.

The birth rate is not entirely due to the above, but also comes from the rising cost of raising children. Many people are hesitant to have children for many reasons. Tech billionaire Elon Musk also believes that humans will become extinct due to AI and population decline, to the point of building the SpaceX space center with the purpose of sending humans to other planets.

Professor Kak does not rule out the possibility. “Now, I am not saying that these trends will continue, but it is difficult to reverse them because more and more people are refusing to have children,” he said.

Source: https://znews.vn/nguy-co-trai-dat-het-nguoi-vi-ai-post1557555.html