# Stephen Hawking on Reddit (u/Prof-Stephen-Hawking)

Part of Scientists on Reddit, researched with Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai) from public sources. Updated 2026-11-07. Interactive version: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/scientists-on-reddit/stephen-hawking

Stephen Hawking (1942–2018): Theoretical physicist, A Brief History of Time.

- Reddit account: [u/Prof-Stephen-Hawking](https://www.reddit.com/user/Prof-Stephen-Hawking/) (AMA only; His 2015 r/science AMA: the questions were collected, and r/science moderators posted his written answers from this account.)
- How we know it's theirs: [The 2015 r/science AMA, posted from this account](https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/3eret9/)
- Where they post, in the records we retrieved: r/science (11)
- Known activity in the posts we found: 2015 to 2015
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking

## Moments

### u/Prof-Stephen-Hawking in r/science, Oct 8, 2015 · Explains things

Replying to the post "Science AMA Series: Stephen Hawking AMA Answers!".

> You’re right: media often misrepresent what is actually said. The real risk with AI isn’t malice but competence. A superintelligent AI will be extremely good at accomplishing its goals, and if those goals aren’t aligned with ours, we’re in trouble. You’re probably not an evil ant-hater who steps on ants out of malice, but if you’re in charge of a hydroelectric green energy project and there’s an anthill in the region to be flooded, too bad for the ants.  Let’s not place humanity in the position of those ants.

(Excerpt.)
Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/3nyn5i/comment/cvsdlnr/ · 3,881 points as of Nov 7, 2026