UPF Inverno 2018

[1] Stephen Hawking's fame was founded on the research he did on general relativity and black holes. But he often stepped outside his own

[2] field of research, using his recognition to highlight what he saw as the great challenges and existential threats for humanity in coming

[3] decades. His pronouncements drove headlines in the media, which sometimes proved controversial.

[4] Leaving Earth

[5] Hawking was clearly troubled that we were putting all our eggs in one basket. Hawking's rationale was that humankind would eventually

[6] fall victim to an extinction-level catastrophe - perhaps sooner rather than later. What worried him were so-called low-probability, high impact

[7] events - a large asteroid striking our planet is the classic example. But Hawking perceived a host of other potential threats: artificial

[8] intelligence, climate change, genetically modified viruses and nuclear war to name a few.

[9] _____________________

[10] Hawking said the primitive forms of artificial intelligence developed so far had already proved very useful; indeed, the tech he used to

[11] communicate incorporated a basic form of AI. But Hawking feared the consequences of advanced forms of machine intelligence that could

[12] match or surpass humans.

[13] Some academics thought the comments drew on outdated science fiction tropes. Others, such as Prof Bradley Love, from UCL, agreed

[14] there were risks: "Clever AI will create tremendous wealth for society, but will leave many people without jobs," he told The Conversation.

[15] But he added: "If we are going to worry about the future of humanity we should focus on the real challenges, such as climate change and

[16] weapons of mass destruction rather than fanciful killer AI robots."

[17] _______________________

[18] The Cambridge physicist regarded global warming as one of the biggest threats to life on the planet. Hawking was particularly fearful of

[19] hitting the moment where global warming would become irreversible. He also expressed concern about America's decision to pull out of

[20] the Paris Agreement.

[21] ________________________

[22] There's a whole field of science dedicated to listening for signals from intelligent beings elsewhere in the Universe. But Hawking cautioned

[23] against trying to actively hail any alien civilisations that might be out there. In 2010, he told the Discovery Channel that aliens might simply

[24] raid Earth for resources and then move on. "If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which

[25] didn't turn out well for the Native Americans," he said.

[26] Controversial headlines

[27] The media attention gave him an unprecedented platform. But some in the scientific community were occasionally less enthusiastic about

[28] the resulting headlines than the journalists who wrote them. But many would also argue that, beyond individual statements or headlines,

[29] Hawking had a unique ability to connect with the public. It's testament to his success as a communicator that the mourning for this champion

[30] of rational thinking extends far beyond the scientific community.

(Retrieved and adapted from from http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43408961. Access on March 27th, 2018)

Answer the question according to Text 2.