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Should there be laws regarding AI?

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To what extent can AI take artists jobs?

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How could AI improve hospitals and general healthcare ?

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To what extent will AI affect the United States economy?

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What effects would an AI smarter than a human have on the world?

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Is a cyborg considered a human or an AI?

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could AI possibly assimilate into human society? could one be 'friends' with an AI?

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How could AI help slow the effects of climate change?

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To what extent will AI affect stock market predictions?

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Does AI have the ability to brainwash societies?

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could robots/AI develop a kind of culture?

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If AI is used to create smart homes, will that not further the gap between the wealthy and poor? Will it give wealthier people more advantages?

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Should AI replace certain jobs of humans?

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could AI be more fit to rule over humans and make political decisions?

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How will AI improve research on past civilizations?

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Is a terminator-type future possible where AI destroys the human race?

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Prof Stephen Hawking, one of Britain's pre-eminent scientists, has said that efforts to create thinking machines pose a threat to our very existence.

He told the BBC:"The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race."

His warning came in response to a question about a revamp of the technology he uses to communicate, which involves a basic form of AI.

But others are less gloomy about AI's prospects.

The theoretical physicist, who has the motor neurone disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is using a new system developed by Intel to speak.

Machine learning experts from the British company Swiftkey were also involved in its creation. Their technology, already employed as a smartphone keyboard app, learns how the professor thinks and suggests the words he might want to use next.

Prof Hawking says the primitive forms of artificial intelligence developed so far have already proved very useful, but he fears the consequences of creating something that can match or surpass humans.

"It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate," he said.

"Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded."

But others are less pessimistic.

"I believe we will remain in charge of the technology for a decently long time and the potential of it to solve many of the world problems will be realised," said Rollo Carpenter, creator of Cleverbot.

Cleverbot's software learns from its past conversations, and has gained high scores in the Turing test, fooling a high proportion of people into believing they are talking to a human.

Rise of the robots

Mr Carpenter says we are a long way from having the computing power or developing the algorithms needed to achieve full artificial intelligence, but believes it will come in the next few decades.

"We cannot quite know what will happen if a machine exceeds our own intelligence, so we can't know if we'll be infinitely helped by it, or ignored by it and sidelined, or conceivably destroyed by it," he says.

But he is betting that AI is going to be a positive force.

Prof Hawking is not alone in fearing for the future.

In the short term, there are concerns that clever machines capable of undertaking tasks done by humans until now will swiftly destroy millions of jobs.

In the longer term, the technology entrepreneur Elon Musk has warned that AI is "our biggest existential threat".

Robotic voice

In his BBC interview, Prof Hawking also talks of the benefits and dangers of the internet.

He quotes the director of GCHQ's warning about the net becoming the command centre for terrorists: "More must be done by the internet companies to counter the threat, but the difficulty is to do this without sacrificing freedom and privacy."

He has, however, been an enthusiastic early adopter of all kinds of communication technologies and is looking forward to being able to write much faster with his new system.

But one aspect of his own tech - his computer generated voice - has not changed in the latest update.

Prof Hawking concedes that it's slightly robotic, but insists he didn't want a more natural voice.

"It has become my trademark, and I wouldn't change it for a more natural voice with a British accent," he said.

"I'm told that children who need a computer voice, want one like mine."

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

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Stephen Hawking warns artificial intelligence could end mankind

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Prof Stephen Hawking, one of the world's leading scientists, warns that artificial intelligence "could spell the end of the human race".

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once robots pass the turing test, can they be considered human? at what point does a machine become human?

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To what extent will AI make jobs and professions affect unemployment?

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Could AI change the expectations for artists and art compititions?

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To what extent is AI changing the medical industry? How have operating rooms changed?

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Does using AI for everyday appliances disadvantage people who don't understand how it works?

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How can artificial intelligence effect the outcomes of elections?

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will AI become a luxury that only the wealthy can use? if so, could this be leveraged against the working class?

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Should AI art considered 'real art'?

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How can AI be used in the stock market to generate profit?

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is artificial intelligence capable of creating real art?

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To what extent will AI improve pharmaceuticals and the diagnosis of diseases?

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is it ethical to use robot soldiers in war?

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To what degree will AI make some professions or jobs obsolete?

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who will dictate/choose the moral/ethical systems for robots to operate on?

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To what extend could robots reverse the effects of climate change?

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What are the ethical implications of having AI robot soldiers?

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Boston Dynamics' New Robot Makes Soldiers Obsolete, Here's Why