Is Yuval Noah Harari right? The science writer thinks that “alien intelligence” could take over from humans. But others think he is being too negative.
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Aliens will destroy us warns new book
Is Yuval Noah Harari right? The science writer thinks that "alien intelligence" could take over from humans. But others think he is being too negative.
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Yuval Noah Harari should be one of the world's happiest men. He is one of the most successful writers alive today and has sold more than 45 million books.
Yet Harari is glumSad, unhappy or downbeat. . In the last 10 years, he thinks, the world has been going "downhill". His new book Nexus claims that humanity is close to destroying itself.
Harari is a historian, but his books also include ideas from philosophyThe study of key questions and knowledge about nature, reality and existence. , science, economicsThe study of wealth and how it is produced and consumed. and law.
His big break came with Sapiens (2011), which argued that humans became the world's most successful speciesA set of animals or plants with similar features. Members of the same species can breed with each other. because of our imaginations and our ability to work together.
In Nexus, Harari writes about information networks and how they shape our world.
Harari argues that we are nearly at crisis point. The world faces wars, hunger, disease, dictatorsRulers with total power over a country. and climate changeLong-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Human action is a major cause of climate change..
He is especially worried that technology will take over. Although AIA computer programme that has been designed to think. was made by humans, he considers it an "alien intelligence".
AI holds many dangers. It could leave people with jobs. AI-generated fake pictures could upturn our sense of reality. And AI could one day become smarter than us - and decide to take over.
Others think that Harari is too negative. He assumes that AI can easily beat us. But humans have faced crises before. If AI starts to threaten us, we will find a way to win.
Is Yuval Noah Harari right?
Yes! The last few years have not been good ones. It is hard to imagine finding answers for all of the problems Harari talks about.
No! Many humans have tried to predictSay what you think is about to happen. how the world will end. So far, they have all been wrong. Harari will be no different.
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Keywords
Glum - Sad, unhappy or downbeat.
Philosophy - The study of key questions and knowledge about nature, reality and existence.
Economics - The study of wealth and how it is produced and consumed.
Species - A set of animals or plants with similar features. Members of the same species can breed with each other.
Dictators - Rulers with total power over a country.
Climate change - Long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Human action is a major cause of climate change.
AI - A computer programme that has been designed to think.
Predict - Say what you think is about to happen.
Aliens will destroy us warns new book
Scholar: Israeli intellectual Yuval Noah Harari (above) believes that now is the most exciting point in 70,000 years of human history. Glossary
Glum - Sad, unhappy or downbeat.
Philosophy - The study of key questions and knowledge about nature, reality and existence.
Economics - The study of wealth and how it is produced and consumed.
Species - A set of animals or plants with similar features. Members of the same species can breed with each other.
Dictators - Rulers with total power over a country.
Climate change - Long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Human action is a major cause of climate change.
AI - A computer programme that has been designed to think.
Predict - Say what you think is about to happen.