{"id":226102,"date":"2026-03-21T13:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T17:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/21\/we-should-regard-it-as-a-privilege-to-be-stepping-stones-to-higher-things-how-arthur-c-clarke-predicted-the-rise-of-agi-and-the-looming-demise-of-humanity-back-in-1964\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T14:35:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T18:35:25","slug":"we-should-regard-it-as-a-privilege-to-be-stepping-stones-to-higher-things-how-arthur-c-clarke-predicted-the-rise-of-agi-and-the-looming-demise-of-humanity-back-in-1964","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/21\/we-should-regard-it-as-a-privilege-to-be-stepping-stones-to-higher-things-how-arthur-c-clarke-predicted-the-rise-of-agi-and-the-looming-demise-of-humanity-back-in-1964\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We should regard it as a privilege to be stepping stones to higher things’: How Arthur C Clarke predicted the rise of AGI and the looming demise of humanity back in 1964"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘We should regard it as a privilege to be stepping stones to higher things’: How Arthur C Clarke predicted the rise of AGI and the looming demise of humanity back in 1964<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/pro\/we-should-regard-it-as-a-privilege-to-be-stepping-stones-to-higher-things-how-arthur-c-clarke-predicted-the-rise-of-agi-and-the-looming-demise-of-humanity-back-in-1964<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-03-21 13:05:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.techradar.com<\/a><\/p>\n

While debate over the timeline \u2013 or even the potential \u2013 for artificial general intelligence (AGI) rages on in 2026, one futurist may have predicted the breakthrough more than 60 years ago.<\/p>\n

Noted British science fiction writer and futurist Arthur C. Clarke touted the arrival of AGI during an interview at the 1964 World\u2019s Fair in New York City.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the BBC at the time, Clarke\u2019s sweeping interview predicted everything from “replicator” tools which can \u201cmake an exact copy of anything\u201d (3D printing, perhaps?) to the creation of \u201cintelligent and useful servants among the other animals on this planet\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Great apes, dolphins, and whales were all noted as potential \u201cservants\u201d in this regard, according to Clarke. Suffice to say this prediction hasn\u2019t materialized. What does stand out, however, are his predictions about the future of intelligent machines.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most intelligent inhabitants of that future world won\u2019t be men or monkeys,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ll be machines, the remote descendants of today\u2019s computers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPresent-day electronic brains are complete morons, but this will not be true in another generation. They will start to think, and eventually, they will completely out-think their makers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clarke pondered whether this prospect was \u201cdepressing\u201d, but noted that advances in technology on this front represent the next evolutionary step in humanity\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe superseded the Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal men, and we presume we\u2019re an improvement,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should regard it as a privilege to be stepping stones to higher things. I suspect that organic evolution has about come to its end, and we are now at the beginning of inorganic or mechanical evolution, which will be thousands of times swifter.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AGI…<\/h2>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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