Could AI trigger a population collapse? Professor warns of ‘tech-stinction’

First, it was electricity and fears of mass electrocution

Then, nuclear power, total annihilation. The internet brought warnings of global surveillance, biotech, fears of cloning and playing God

Each time, people warned the end was near. And each time, we're still here

But now, AI is at the center of the latest doomsday prediction

not because it might overpower us, but because it might convince us not to reproduce

In his new book, The Age of Artificial Intelligence, Oklahoma State University professor Subhash

Kock predicts a catastrophic drop in the global population over the next few centuries. He cites

projections suggesting that if current trends continue, the population could fall from today's

billion to under 100 million by the year 2300. And total extinction? He doesn't rule it out

It's going to be devastating for society and world society, Koch told the U.S. Sun. I think people

really don't have a clue. He argues the threat isn't nuclear war or climate collapse, it's AI

replacing human labor. With fewer jobs to go around, people may see no point in having kids

especially given the high cost of raising them. Cox says we are already seeing it in places like Europe, China, Japan, and especially South Korea

where birth rates are plummeting. In a recent Medium article, he writes

the collapse is due in part to technology that gives humans greater agency over their bodies

but also because AI social media has so influenced our minds that many see no need to have babies He believes AI doesn just do our work it reshaping our values priorities and even our relationships Could it then change how we define family or make us bond more with machines than each other

Pop culture is already on it. In an episode of Futurama, characters are warned not to date robots or risk humanity going extinct

ordinary human dating it's enjoyable and it serves an important purpose but when a human dates an artificial mate there is no purpose only enjoyment and that leads to

tragedy now let's skip forward 80 years into the future where's billy don't date robots

Funny until you realize some people actually agree with it. A Family Studies YouGov survey reported from 2024 that one in four young adults think AI boyfriends and girlfriends could replace real life partners

If that's true, where does that leave the population? And Elon Musk has called declining birth rates one of the greatest threats to humanity

If the current compounding effect continues, you would see really many countries become 5% of their current size or less within three generations

He's invested heavily in SpaceX and plans to colonize Mars maybe as a backup plan

With 14 kids of his own, he's definitely doing his part. So, is AI really a path to extinction or just the latest in a long line of overblown fears

Only time will tell. With Straight Arrow News, I'm Kennedy Felton. Download our app or visit san.com for more