Earth could be left with only 100 million people by the year 2300, down from the current estimated population of eight billion, owing to artificial intelligence (AI) becoming omnipresent, a US-based tech expert has predicted.
Subhash Kak, who teaches computer science at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, made the doomsday prediction, claiming that the population collapse will occur not due to Terminator-style nuclear holocaust but rather through AI replacing our jobs.
“It's going to be devastating for society and world society. I think people really don't have a clue," said Mr Kak, as per the New York Post.
“Computers or robots will never be conscious, but they will be doing literally all that we do because most of what we do in our lives can be replaced,” he added.
The “Age of Artificial Intelligence” author believes that birth rates will plunge as people will be reluctant to have kids who are destined to be unemployed. Without people making babies, the global population will suffer an apocalyptic blow.
“There are demographers who are suggesting that as a consequence, the world population will collapse, and it could go down to as low as just 100 million people on the entire planet Earth in 2300 or 2380,” he warned.
Mr Kak cited the example of Europe, China, Japan and South Korea where the population decline has been prominent in recent years, to back up his claim.
“Now, I'm not saying that these trends will continue, but it's very hard to reverse them because a lot of people have children for a variety of reasons," he said.
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AI and jobs
Mr Kak's sentiment of AI taking away jobs has been echoed by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who recently claimed that 50 per cent of entry-level white-collar jobs could be eliminated within the next five years.
"We, as the producers of this technology, have a duty and an obligation to be honest about what is coming. I don't think this is on people's radar," said Mr Amodei, adding that governments across the world were downplaying the threat.
"Most of them are unaware that this is about to happen. It sounds crazy, and people just don't believe it."
Mr Amodei said the US government had kept mum on the issue, fearing backlash from workers who would panic or that the country could fall behind in the AI race against China.
