He was one of the greatest scientific minds the world has ever known — a man who peered into black holes and warned of artificial intelligence before it was fashionable. But as it turns out, Stephen Hawking saved his most chilling message for the very end.
The world-renowned theoretical physicist passed away in March 2018 at the age of 76. Yet months later, a final recording of his voice — part of a posthumous lecture entitled Brief Answers to the Big Questions — was released. In it, Hawking offered humanity one last, stark warning: “Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet.”
Stephen Hawking’s final recorded message to humanity: “We must leave Earth. We must go to space.” Haunting and urgent. #StephenHawking— BBC Science (@BBCScienceNews) June 4, 2025
The lecture was played at a memorial service held at Westminster Abbey, where Hawking’s ashes were interred between those of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. In the voice message, he urged young people to “be curious,” to “never give up hope,” and — perhaps most urgently — to prioritize humanity’s survival beyond Earth.
“We are running out of space, and the only places to go to are other worlds,” he said. “It is time to explore other solar systems. Spreading out may be the only thing that saves us from ourselves.”
“Humanity must leave Earth,” said Stephen Hawking in his final message. “We’re running out of space and time.” #HawkingLegacy— Reuters Science (@ReutersScience) June 4, 2025
That message now resonates more than ever. In an era of climate instability, geopolitical tension, and the rapid rise of AI — all areas Hawking warned about in his final years — his words are being revisited with new urgency.
In his last book, also titled Brief Answers to the Big Questions, he expanded on these fears. “AI could become the worst event in the history of our civilization,” he wrote. “Unless we learn how to prepare for and avoid the potential risks, it will be the end of us.”
Stephen Hawking’s warnings about artificial intelligence are coming true in terrifying detail. #AI #Hawking— MIT Technology Review (@techreview) June 4, 2025
But amid all his warnings, Hawking also offered hope — particularly to young scientists and dreamers. “No matter how difficult life may seem,” he said in that same farewell recording, “there is always something you can do, and succeed at.”
His daughter, Lucy Hawking, who introduced the message at the memorial service, said: “He was not only a brilliant scientist and thinker, but a deeply moral man who had a clear sense of the future. This message was his way of giving us a compass.”
“He wanted to inspire, not just warn,” Lucy Hawking said of her father’s last message to humanity. #StephenHawking— The Guardian (@guardian) June 4, 2025
In the years since his death, many of Hawking’s predictions have become eerily relevant. In 2020, Elon Musk referenced Hawking’s work when unveiling SpaceX’s Mars colonization plan. “Stephen Hawking said we must become a multiplanetary species — that’s what we’re doing,” Musk told SpaceX News.
Others, including NASA scientists and global policymakers, have echoed his call for urgent action. His message has been inscribed on plaques aboard interstellar probes and played during launches — a lasting symbol of the man who dared to look beyond the stars, even when his body was confined to a wheelchair.
NASA played Stephen Hawking’s final message aboard the Mars launch in 2023. A voice to carry us into the future. #StephenHawking— NASA (@NASA) June 4, 2025
Hawking’s final words are now being shared by millions online, especially as young people across TikTok and Instagram create tributes, animations, and even songs set to his voice. The hashtag #HawkingsLastWords has surpassed 120 million views.
It’s a reminder that his voice — artificial though it may have been — spoke more humanity than most ever will.
Stephen Hawking’s final advice to humanity: “Stay curious. Keep looking up. Don’t give up.” I’m crying. #HawkingsLegacy— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) June 4, 2025
