Scientists warn: Humanity may become extinct by 2100

The study lists 17 major threats to human health in the next 75 years.

According to the report, the abuse of artificial intelligence and nuclear war are particularly serious threats to humanity. According to experts, the probability of these threats coming true is low, but the consequences would be devastating.

A nuclear explosion causes immediate fatalities as a result of pressure wave, thermal radiation and ionizing radiation. In addition, a nuclear war could raise so many particles into the atmosphere that sunlight would be blocked from reaching the earth and mass starvation would result.

According to the researchers, the health risks of a nuclear war could be reduced above all by reducing the stockpiles of nuclear weapons and preventing crises between nuclear-armed states.

To artificial intelligence the experts divided the associated risks into three different threat scenarios. The first is the use of artificial intelligence in the development of biological weapons. Artificial intelligence could facilitate the design and manufacture of new, highly lethal pathogens.

Another threat is related to artificial intelligence in critical systems of society. Errors or intentional misuse could cause extensive disruptions in, for example, healthcare and energy infrastructure. Risks also include enhanced cyber attacks, autonomous weapons and the use of artificial intelligence in nuclear weapons systems.

The third threat is that humans lose control over artificial intelligence. Advanced, autonomous artificial intelligence could begin to pursue goals that conflict with human interests.

According to the report, threats can be reduced by, for example, tightening the regulation of artificial intelligence, improving cyber security and limiting the use of artificial intelligence models suitable for the development of biological weapons.

To others serious catastrophic threats were classified as factors that could cause a total loss of more than a billion healthy life years.

Among others, the climate crisis, antimicrobial resistance, cuts in development aid, child malnutrition and air pollution made the list.

Limiting global warming to around 1.8 degrees instead of 4.4 degrees could save 1.89 billion healthy life years, the report states.

Also on the list are conventional armed conflicts, declines in international development aid, heavy alcohol consumption, high blood pressure, income inequality, low levels of education, naturally occurring pandemics, obesity, mental health problems, smoking and aging-related health problems.

According to the experts of the Lancet commission, which prepared the assessment, all threats are interconnected. Therefore, they must be addressed simultaneously.

Experts emphasize that there are realistic ways to deal with every threat. The means could be, for example, investing in technological innovations and strengthening healthcare systems.

Commission member, professor Ibrahim Abubakar emphasized that the purpose of the report is not to scare people. According to him, decision-makers at both the international and national level need to know what kind of threats they may have to face.

“Furthermore, we wanted to show how much their actions can affect the situation,” Abubakar said, according to The Guardian.

“Decisions made by leaders today will affect the health and well-being of the next generation,” said the commission’s co-chair, professor Christopher Murray.

The commission included 35 experts. Its results will be presented on Sunday at the World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany.

The commission compiled the list by modeling how many healthy years of life each threat could take from disease, disability or premature death if current trends continue. The daly number, which describes lost healthy years of life, was used as a measure.