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Scientist who predicted AI jotted a date down for the end of the world – and we are now just weeks away
A scientist who warned about the dangers of artificial intelligence decades ago also predicted the exact date the world would end, and that day is now just weeks away.
With concerns about AI, the rising cost of living, and even the supposed black death outbreak in Russia, the last thing anyone needs to worry about is the future.
However, a chilling forecast made in the 1960s has now resurfaced, and it suggests that humanity will end before 2026 is over.
The day in question is Friday, November 13, 2026, which is in just over five weeks.
Scientists predicted the world's end six decades ago
In November 1960, researchers Heinz von Foerster, Patricia M. Mora, and Lawrence W. Amiot published a paper titled, Doomsday: Friday, 13 November, A.D. 2026, in the journal Science.
The three researchers from the University of Illinois looked into the historical population growth and predicted that overpopulation, rather than nuclear wars or natural disasters, would cause the global population to approach infinity next month.
At the time of their research, the world's population was around three billion. Today, that number has soared to approximately 8.3 billion.
Their calculations suggested that if the world's population kept growing at the same rate, "our great–great–grandchildren will not starve," instead they will "be squeezed to death".
However, the date was only a mathematical prediction, not a warning that the planet would actually be destroyed in a few weeks.
Claims debunked by professor
Professor Alan MacEachern, a professor of history at Western University, challenged the prediction in The Conversation on September 30, stating: "We will probably not all wake up on Friday, November 13, 'squeezed to death.'
"Only around 1993 did that accuracy begin to falter and the global population began falling behind the forecasts," he said. "Today, the global birth rate is slightly less than half the 1960 rate."
MacEachern also questioned von Foerster's credibility, pointing out that he was a stage magician at one point and claimed that some tricks may have been used in the paper.
"Borrowing the classic language of stagecraft, an effective illusion relies on three parts: the setup, the extraordinary turn, and the final reveal that returns the situation to normal," he continued.
He concluded that Von Foerster and his co–authors' article "gained attention because it was an ordinary scientific article wrapped in an extraordinary title and conclusion".
Scientists also issued a warning about AI
What makes the decades-old forecast interesting is that one of the researchers also voiced concerns about AI long before companies like OpenAI or Anthropic were available.
Von Foerster, an Austrian-American scientist who passed away in 2002, spoke about the limitations of the technology during an interview with The Information Philosopher in 1995.
During the interview, he argued that even if AI can perform tasks that seem intelligent, it still doesn't match human intelligence, Daily Star reported.
Fast forward to 31 years later, AI has become integrated into everyday life, transforming everything from how we work to how we communicate with people.