Modernising Humanity, Endangering Life: Artificial Intelligence, Nuclear Technology and Converging Pathways to the Next Mass Extinction

Human societies have never been more technologically capable, and the living systems on which they depend have rarely been under greater strain. Scientists now debate whether Earth is entering, or has already entered, a sixth mass extinction driven by habitat conversion, overexploitation, pollution, invasive species and climate change. Against this background, two of the most consequential technologies of our time, artificial intelligence (AI) and nuclear technology are usually discussed in separate rooms: AI by computer scientists, ethicists and energy analysts, nuclear technology by physicists, strategists and radiation biologists. This narrative review brings them into one frame and asks a plain question: how might these technologies, alone and together, change the odds of a catastrophic loss of biodiversity and, with it, of human health and economic security? We examine the evidence on current extinction rates and the scientific debate about their meaning; the material footprint of AI in electricity, water, minerals and electronic waste; the dual-use risks of AI for biological and military misuse; and the effects of nuclear weapons, accidents, energy generation and waste on ecosystems. We then consider how the two technologies interact, through AI in nuclear command and control, the electricity demand of data centres and its links to nuclear power, and the shared dependence of both risks on already stressed climate and food systems. The best-documented pathway to a rapid, global ecological collapse remains large-scale nuclear conflict, whose soot-driven climate disruption could cut global food production far below survival needs. AI does not, on present evidence, cause extinction directly; it acts as an amplifier of existing pressures and as a modifier of the probability and speed of catastrophic decisions. Nuclear technology cuts both ways, since nuclear power can displace fossil fuels while weapons and accidents carry severe, if geographically uneven, ecological costs. We close with an assessment of health and economic consequences and a set of governance priorities: transparent accounting of AI resource use, human control over nuclear decisions, biosecurity screening of powerful AI tools, implementation of the Kunming–Montreal biodiversity targets, and research that links ecological, medical and economic evidence. Our aim is neither alarm nor reassurance, but a clearer view of where the real risks lie and what can still be done.