Technologies like artificial intelligence have allowed societies to develop and progress but they will eventually devastate the middle class, eminent theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has cautioned.

In an op-ed, published in The Guardian on Thursday, Hawking warned that technical advancements would cause massive job cuts and lead to concentration of wealth in fewer hands, which would adversely affect the middle class and boost inequality.

He explained that the automation of factories has decimated millions of jobs in traditional manufacturing around the globe. Robots and machines have outpaced humans in a number of fields like sales.

Quoting Hawking, the Guardian said, "It is no wonder then that they are searching for a new deal, which Trump and Brexit might have appeared to represent."

It may be noted here that Hawking has been a vocal opponent of both Brexit (Britian's withdrawal from the EU) and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. He described Trump as a "demagogue" appealing to citizens' lowest common denominator.

However, Hawking remained optimistic and said that humans can turn things around despite advancing technology. But, they need to become better at sharing resources with others within their nations and around the globe.