As an environmental expert, I have spent many years reflecting on the factors that could lead to the extinction of humanity. Over the centuries, particularly since the industrialization of the world and the advent of ever more powerful tools, humans have driven countless species to extinction. For this reason, one question has persistently occupied my mind: could human beings themselves one day face extinction?
Over the past year, however, amid the rapid and unprecedented growth of artificial intelligence, I have come to believe that, before many of the familiar threats, it may be human intelligence itself, and the delegation of data, analysis, and decision-making to artificial intelligence systems, that could pave the way for humanity’s destruction. When human cognition and judgment are broadly surrendered to machines, the equation is reversed; it is as though humanity falls, by its own hands, into a pit it has dug itself.
Years ago, I encountered a concept that stated: “Growth for the sake of growth is like a cancerous tumor.” A tumor grows until it destroys its host, and in the end, it perishes along with it. Today, this environmental insight is clearly reflected both in humanity’s treatment of nature and in the unchecked development of artificial intelligence.
Imagine a world in which humans, intelligent yet destructive beings, lead themselves to the brink with their own hands; not through nuclear bombs or natural catastrophes, but through something they themselves have created: artificial intelligence, a growing tumor that devours its host.
From an environmental perspective, humanity is the greatest threat to Earth’s biodiversity. According to reports by organizations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), human activities have caused global wildlife populations, including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish, to decline by an average of approximately 73 percent since 1970. Moreover, nearly one million animal and plant species are now facing accelerated extinction, a figure unprecedented in human history.
These losses are largely the direct result of our own actions: deforestation, widespread pollution, overexploitation of wildlife, and climate change. Yet a more fundamental question now arises: will this cycle of destruction eventually turn back on humanity itself?
For years, I believed that factors such as climate change, global pandemics, or nuclear wars posed the most likely threats to human survival. But recent advances in artificial intelligence have convinced me that the greatest danger may emerge from within, from the creation of something capable of slipping beyond the control of its creator.
Before focusing exclusively on artificial intelligence, it is necessary to review systematically the other factors that threaten human survival:
- Climate change and global warming can lead to drought, food shortages, and widespread conflict.
- Nuclear or biological wars, which, despite causing massive human destruction, would not necessarily eradicate other forms of life.
- Global pandemics, whether natural or engineered, could pose a severe threat to the human species.
- The collapse of ecosystems disrupts food chains and undermines the foundations of life.
- Declining fertility rates and population aging weaken the long-term sustainability of human societies.
- Cosmic collisions or external shocks, which, although rare, remain a constant possibility.
Despite the significance of all these factors, none is as rapid, pervasive, and unpredictable as artificial intelligence. The development of this technology bears a troubling resemblance to the growth of a cancerous tumor, an expansion that may ultimately destroy its host: humanity itself.
In 2025, advances in artificial intelligence have been striking: smaller and more efficient models, declining costs, and the emergence of intelligent agents capable of operating with greater autonomy. Economic reports indicate that the use of this technology is expanding at a remarkable speed. Yet this growth, much like cancer, may carry devastating consequences.
Warnings from scientists such as Geoffrey Hinton, often referred to as the “godfather of artificial intelligence,” are particularly serious. He has repeatedly cautioned that the probability of human extinction caused by AI in the coming decades, while it may appear small, is real and steadily increasing. Elon Musk has likewise warned on numerous occasions that artificial intelligence could pose a threat to human civilization far greater than nuclear weapons.
Why does such a danger exist? Because humans are entrusting data, decisions, and even their future to systems that may pursue objectives misaligned with human interests. The replacement of human labor by machines, mass unemployment, rising social despair, declining birth rates, and ultimately the erosion of social cohesion represent only part of this bleak scenario.
In the worst-case scenario, artificial intelligence that slips beyond human control could lead to cyber wars, the destruction of critical infrastructure, or even engineered pandemics. In such a situation, humanity may come to share the same fate it has imposed on countless other species.
From an environmental perspective, artificial intelligence represents the ultimate symbol of humanity’s unchecked growth, the same logic that sacrificed nature now threatens humanity itself. Yet windows of hope remain. If the development of artificial intelligence is accompanied by ethics, regulation, transparency, and accountability, it may still be possible to step back from this dangerous path. Otherwise, there is a real possibility that human history will end not with a natural catastrophe, but with an algorithm.
Sources
- Living Planet Report, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), 2024
- Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
- Global AI Economy Report, McKinsey & Company
- Interviews and statements by Geoffrey Hinton on the risks of artificial intelligence (2023–2025)
- Statements by Elon Musk on the risks of artificial intelligence (2014–2025)
- Future of Jobs Report, World Economic Forum, 2023
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