MARY ALEXANDER • 22 March 2024

“Klaus Schwab Says Humans Who Refuse To Merge With AI Will Soon Become Extinct,” reads the headline of a story on The People’s Voice, a known disinformation site, on 13 February 2024.

It adds: “World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab has warned that humans who refuse to merge with artificial intelligence (AI) will soon find that they have no place in society.”

A month later, the story was posted on X/Twitter by British conspiracy theorist and one-time Brexit Party candidate Jim Ferguson.

It then spread to social media in Nigeria, South Africa and elsewhere – here, here, here, here, here and here.*

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a global nonprofit that describes itself as the “international organisation for public-private cooperation”. It was founded by Klaus Schwab, its chairperson, in 1971.

It’s also a new target of conspiracy theories.

AI or artificial intelligence uses complex computer algorithms to perform some tasks otherwise done by people – generating text, writing code, creating images and videos, and more.

Africa Check has debunked claims by The People’s Voice – a site that keeps changing its name  – here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Like those, the claim that Schwab said people “who refuse to merge with AI” would “become extinct” is just made up.

Schwab on the need for ethical regulation of AI

The People’s Voice says Schwab issued his warning at the 2024 World Governments Summit.

The WEF founder did talk about AI and other emerging technologies at the summit, held in the United Arab Emirates in February.

He stressed the need for AI to be ethically regulated to ensure it benefitted people and society, and did not cause harm.

But the only thing he said that came closest to the claim was:

In the “new era”, human well-being will be prioritised through robotics and AI. At the core of this transformation, there is commitment to ensuring that the benefits of technological advancement are equally shared to bridge the digital gap within societies.

Schwab’s full 14-minute speech is on YouTube. At no point does he say “humans who refuse to merge with AI will soon become extinct”, or the less ominous “find that they have no place in society”.

See for yourself:

The People’s Voice claim is, yet again, false.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Published by Africa Check on 28 March 2024.

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