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Comment by Yuval Noah Harari

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Israeli historian and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
It was not powerful enough to destroy humanity. AI is. If religious wars resume [...] with AI and nuclear bombs, I don't think humanity would survive.
AI Verified source (May 11, 2023)
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AI poses an existential threat to humanity
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AI Verified The quote clearly supports the statement: the author explicitly says 'AI is' powerful enough 'to destroy humanity,' which directly implies AI poses an existential threat to humanity. · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 17d ago
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AI Verified The quote says "AI is" "powerful enough to destroy humanity" and adds that with "AI and nuclear bombs" humanity might not survive, which supports the claim of an existential threat. · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 17d ago

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AI Verified Confirmed. The Le Point article published on 2023-05-11 attributes the passage to Yuval Noah Harari and contains the French original: “Elle n'était cependant pas assez puissante pour détruire totalement l'humanité. L'IA l'est. Si les guerres de religion reprennent ... mais avec l'IA et les bombes nucléaires, je ne pense pas que l'humanité y survivra.” The stored English text is a faithful translation with an allowed omission, the author is correctly Yuval Noah Harari, and the source URL/date match the article. · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 17d ago
Disputed Le Point’s 11 May 2023 debate does attribute similar remarks to Yuval Noah Harari, but not this quote verbatim. The source says the 20th century’s technology was “not powerful enough to destroy us,” that 21st-century technology is “far more powerful,” and, conditionally, “If religious wars resume … with AI and nuclear bombs, I don’t think humanity would survive it.” The submitted English line drops that condition and rewrites the wording, so it is materially altered rather than a faithful translation. ([lepoint.fr](https://www.lepoint.fr/sciences-nature/intelligence-artificielle-le-debat-choc-et-inedit-harari-le-cun-11-05-2023-2519779_1924.php?utm_source=openai)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 19d ago
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