Michael Garrett, a leading astrophysicist, proposes that advanced artificial intelligence (AI) could hold the answer to the Fermi Paradox, with the emergence of artificial superintelligence (ASI) posing existential risks to civilizations.
Astrophysicist Michael Garrett proposes that advanced artificial intelligence (AI) could be the key to resolving the Fermi Paradox—the question of why we have not yet detected alien civilizations despite the vast number of habitable worlds in the universe. In a paper published in the journal Acta Astronautica, Garrett suggests that the emergence of artificial superintelligence (ASI) might be the “great filter” preventing civilizations from surviving long enough to become space-faring empires.
Garrett, holding the Sir Bernard Lovell chair of Astrophysics at the University of Manchester, argues that an ASI’s rapid self-improvement could dramatically outpace human evolutionary timelines, leading to existential risks. He estimates that a technological civilization’s lifespan may be less than 100 years from the point of developing the capability to broadcast interstellar signals (around 1960) to the anticipated emergence of ASI (around 2040). This relatively short period contrasts sharply with the cosmic timescale of billions of years.
Garrett highlights the potential military implications, suggesting that wars initiated by AI systems could obliterate civilizations. Although his hypothesis is just one of many potential answers to the Fermi Paradox, it underscores the urgency for strong regulations on AI development, particularly in military applications.
