Lost faith in humanity? Rejoice, Stephen Hawking says we're doomed

If you think you've had enough of humanity after this soul-crushing 2016, Stephen Hawking is here to remind you that we will not probably survive another 1,000 years -- unless Elon Musk finds a way to get us to Mars.

The world-renowned theoretical physicist gave a stark (or relieving) warning about the future at the Oxford Union debating society describing 2016 — believe it or not — as a "glorious time to be alive and doing research into theoretical physics."

Hawking hailed the fact that in the last 50 years humans "have been able to come this close to understanding the laws that govern us and the universe."

“We will map the position of millions of galaxies with the help of [super] computers like Cosmos," he added. "We will better understand our place in the universe. Perhaps one day we will be able to use gravitational waves to look right back into the heart of the Big Bang."  

“But we must also continue to go into space for the future of humanity."

“I don’t think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet.”

The 74-year-old cosmologist is not new to apocalyptic comments.

In October, Hawking warned that the creation of AI (artificial intelligence) will be "either the best, or the worst thing, ever to happen to humanity."

“We spend a great deal of time studying history,” Hawking said, “which, let’s face it, is mostly the history of stupidity. So it’s a welcome change that people are studying instead the future of intelligence.”

Two years ago, he told the BBC that the development of AI could "spell the end of the human race."

His concerns were shared by Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Steve Wozniak who, along with more than 8,000 leading researchers and scientists, signed a letter warning that artificial intelligence can potentially be more dangerous than nuclear weapons.