I’m not panicked by AI fears – people have been warning the end is nigh since the dawn of time, Jeremy Clarkson says

JEREMY Clarkson says he’s not worried about AI, there have been the end is nigh warnings since the dawn of time. The popular TV presenter, 66, thinks that humans aren’t particular good at predicting the future and get a lot wrong, so he can’t get panicked about doomsday warnings about the rise of artificial intelligence. Jeremy Clarkson says he’s not worried about the rise of artificial intelligence Credit: PA One reason Jeremy isn’t concerned about AI is that it doesn’t have a physical body – it can’t lift a patient onto an operating table or paint your front door Credit: Getty Back in the day there was a popular show called Tomorrow’s World which gave a snapshot of what the future might hold. Mr Clarkson though believes shows like that got a lot wrong. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! He says the show thought Londoners in the 21st century would commute to work on the Thames using floating bicycles and we would all be wearing paper clothes. That hasn’t happened. Similarly, the rise of the air fryer or the internet wasn’t predicted. The star of the hit TV show Clarkson’s Farm said that even in his lifetime there have been warnings about a new Ice Age, a likely nuclear war and we’d get skin cancer from the hole in the ozone layer. None of which, he says, has materialised. Mr Clarkson says the “next big threat” is apparently from AI with the likes of Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Geoffrey Hinton, the ex-Google Brit who’s known as the godfather of AI, all issuing dire warnings, saying we face real issues in the next five years and extremely serious ones in ten. Most read in The Sun Mr Clarkson dismisses these fears out of hand. He said in his Times column: “AI is already up to some amazing tricks. It’s writing student essays. It’s composing music that’s cropping up in the charts. It’s doing excellent graphic design.” Mr Clarkson does see how those fears can rise up, it is possible to see a pariah state might use AI to do something “deviant” to the US’s nuclear codes or crack the cyber security of a major bank and then erase all the records. He said: “Let your imagination run riot for a moment and it’s easy to see why the scare stories are gaining so much traction.” Where AI comes a cropper, Mr Clarkson says, is that it doesn’t have “some kind of body”. AI might be able to analyse a patient’s blood work and give recommendations, but it can’t lift them onto an operating table. Similarly, it can’t mend a broken fuse box or paint your front door. He said: “Ever since the dawn of recorded time, there have been people warning us that the end is nigh. Nostradamus. The Mayans. John the Apostle. BBC news. Greta Thunberg. “But somehow, the boffins always find a solution to everything. And we, meanwhile, all go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint and wait for all this to blow over.” 1 comment1