Modern humans depend on their computers to do everything from ordering food to finding a romantic partner.

But the current digital big bang could end with a disappointing whimper because humanity may be unable to produce enough power to keep computers running, experts have warned.

A leading technical organised called the Semiconductor Industry Association has produced a study which said that computer-crazy society will be running short of electricity by 2040.

1 Will the world end up running out of power?

It wrote: "Computing will not be sustainable by 2040, when the energy required for computing will exceed the estimated world’s energy production."

The Semiconductor Industry Association meets every year to discuss how electronic components called transistors - which power computer circuits - can be made ever smaller.

Now the organisation is conceding that they probably won't get any tinier, heralding the end of an era where computers got faster and faster as transistors shrunk to every tinier sizes.

This means tech firms will have to think of new ways to make computers powerful enough to keep up with demands.

"Driverless cars and personalised medicine along with countless other applications of intelligent systems are on the horizon, the Semiconductor Industry Association added.

The year 2040 carries a huge resonance in the tech world, because some people believe that's when artificial intelligence will become as clever as us humans - a moment known as the singularity.

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This is unlikely to happen if we keep suffering power cuts because our computers are taking up too much energy.

What's the best way to make sure a malign computer doesn't wipe us all out?

Make sure it's not plugged in.