Aliens May Arrive Within 100 Years, but How Will We Know They Mean Well?

While humans have already grasped a lot of theory on extra-terrestrials thanks to popular scientific work and hyped Hollywood movies, it may seem to be the right time to contact aliens.

However, theoretical physicist Michio Kaku believes there is still a lot to be done to prepare for the historic event and the distance and time that separates us from other, so to say multiverses, if any, will definitely play into our hands.

He says the distance is in essence an opportunity to come up with more sophisticated technology to understand the language of aliens and, most importantly, their intentions – exactly what  Amy Adams’ heroine was tasked to do in The Arrival.

"Are they expansive and aggressive, or peaceful?" said Kaku, adding that alien life could be found by detecting radio signals within our century.

While aliens are traditionally believed to be a threat to the humanity and bring chaos into our life, Kaku thinks the alien species would mostly be peaceful unless we got in their way.

He paints a futuristic verbal picture of extra-terrestrials landing on, just for example, a lush lawn in front of the White House to get acquainted with humans. Still, he quickly dismisses the scenario, saying that we are presumably like forest animals to them, "not worth communicating with."

Separately, Kaku pondered on the issues surrounding AI-based inventions and warned about robots that work autonomously from humans. During the "ask me anything" (AMA) session, the scientist reiterated the importance of designing fail-safe mechanisms to prevent the so-called Frankenstein syndrome: which, namely, stops robots from going rogue and even killing humans.

Similar warnings were earlier voiced by a whole range of famed tech buffs.  Speaking at a conference in Lisbon, Portugal, renowned physicist Stephen Hawking told attendees that mankind had to find a way to control computers.

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Despite admitting AI’s enormous potential in tackling poverty and lethal diseases among other burning issues, the physicist said AI is associated with serious risks.

Also, Elon Musk, who is behind Tesla  and SpaceX, noted that in a race for revolutionary inventions, humanity could accidentally defeat itself, adding that AI might be humanity’s "biggest existential threat."