Humanity’s extinction: Nobel Laureate in physics sets a deadline

David Gross, a physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004, offers a grim prognosis for the future of humanity, estimating that we have only a few decades left to live before a possible extinction by 2061.

Exactly 35 years. According to this expert, the intensification of global conflicts, the nuclear threat, and the development of artificial intelligence—in addition to global warming—pose a serious threat to our chances of survival.

David Gross specifically highlights the disappearance of strategic treaties, explaining to Live Science:“Even after the end of the Cold War, when we had strategic arms control treaties—all of which have since disappeared—it was estimated that there was a one-in-100 chance of nuclear war each year. I don’t think estimating the odds at two percent is a rigorous estimate. That therefore represents a one-in-50 chance every year.”

Beyond the nuclear threat, the scientist fears technological runaway, with the emergence of AI, against the backdrop of international norms that are tending to collapse and weapons of incredible sophistication. “Automation—and perhaps even AI—will soon take control [of weapons]. It will be very difficult to resist the temptation to let AI make decisions because it acts very quickly.”