Barely a month after Elon Musk called artificial intelligence a threat to humanity, another voice a much bigger voice in the scientific world warned that the technology could end mankind.

Barely a month after Elon Musk called artificial intelligence a threat to humanity, another voice a much bigger voice in the scientific world warned that the technology could end mankind.

Stephen Hawking, the renowned physicist, cosmologist and author, in an interview with the BBC this week, said "the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race."

The BBC noted that Hawking said the state of artificial intelligence (AI) today holds no threat, but he is concerned about scientists in the future creating technology that can surpass humans in terms of both intelligence and physical strength.

"It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever-increasing rate," Hawking said. "Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded."

Hawking's comments closely follow those made by high-tech entrepreneur Musk, who raised controversy in late October when he warned an audience at MIT about the dangers behind AI research.

"I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence," said Musk, CEO of electric car maker Tesla Motors, and CEO and co-founder of the commercial space flight company SpaceX. "If I were to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it's probably that... With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon. In all those stories with the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, and he's sure he can control the demon. It doesn't work out."

Musk, who tweeted this past summer that AI is "potentially more dangerous than nukes," also told the MIT audience that the industry needs national and international oversight.

Musk's comments raised discussion about the state of artificial intelligence, which today is more about robotic vacuum cleaners than Terminator-like robots that shoot people and take over the world.

Yaser Abu-Mostafa, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the California Institute of Technology, said he was a little surprised that AI is getting so much negative attention since the fearful talk hasn't been preceded by the creation of a new, potentially scary technology.

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Stephen Hawking says AI could 'end human race'