Stephen Hawking: Artificial intelligence research crucial to the human race

The UK is about to further boost its status as a world leading centre for artificial intelligence (AI) with the launch of a new centre in Cambridge which is set to explore the implications the technology holds for humans. Officially opened by Professor Stephen Hawking on Wednesday, the 10m Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI) will bring together top researchers from across computer science, philosophy, social sciences and other disciplines such as law and politics to explore the development of AI and both the opportunities and challenges it brings. Read more: Quiz: Who said it - real Trump or robot Trump? "Success in creating AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilisation," said Hawking. "But it could also be the last – unless we learn how to avoid the risks. Alongside the benefits, AI will also bring dangers like powerful autonomous weapons or new ways for the few to oppress the many. We cannot predict what we might achieve when our own minds are amplified by AI. Perhaps with the tools of this new technological revolution, we will be able to undo some of the damage done to the natural world by the last one – industrialisation."