British Prime Minister Boris Johnson fork up a bizarre later Nox speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday , warning that engineering could make our world a dystopian hellscape if it ’s not properly constrained — a position where mattresses supervise our nightmares , heartless algorithmic rule traverse us aesculapian care , and … robots go from the future to slaughter world .
With his trademark mop of blonde hair and the cadence of a third grader delivering a book report , Johnson talk about “ pinkish - eyeball ” eradicator that might be “ sent back from the future to pick the human slipstream ” and “ limbless wimp ” that could soon be on our kitchen board . gratuitous to say , UN delegates from other countries looked on with what appear to be a mixture of amusement and concern .
“ When I suppose of the big scientific revolutions of the past — print , the steam engine , airmanship , the atomic age — I think of new tools that we adopt but over which we , the human subspecies , had the reward , which we controlled . That is not necessarily the case in the digital age , ” Johnson tell the people gather at the UN late Tuesday after many had already left for the night .
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives a thumbs up at the UN General Assembly in New York on September 24, 2019Photo: (Getty Images)
“ You may keep secrets from your friends , from your parent , your child , your doctor , even your personal trainer , but it takes real effort to hold back your thought process from Google , ” Johnson continued . “ And if that is true today , in future tense there may be nowhere to hide . ”
Johnson went on to warn that the net of things might make it easy to line up a parking space , but that this same applied science will allow for “ round - the - clock surveillance ” of every citizen .
“ A next Alexa will pretend to take orders , but this Alexa will be watching you , clucking her tongue and emboss her foot , ” Johnson said , cite to the Amazon interpreter assistant that has had somecontroversialeavesdroppingscandalsin recent calendar month .
UN delegates look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivers a strange speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 24, 2019Screenshot: (UN/YouTube)
“ In the future , voice connectivity will be in every elbow room and almost every object . Your mattress will monitor your nightmare , your fridge will beep for more cheese , your front door will sail wide the moment you approach , like some silent butler . Your smart beat will go hustling — if its accord — for the cheap electricity . ”
“ Should the machine , and only the motorcar , make up one’s mind whether or not we are eligible for a mortgage or insurance or what surgery or medication we should obtain ? ” Johnson say . “ Are we doomed to a cold and hardhearted future in which data processor pronounce yes – or information processing system says no with the grim finality of an emperor in the arena ? ”
Then Johnson got to the weirdest part of his speech .
“ AI – what will it entail ? Helpful robots washing and caring for an mature population ? Or pink eyed Terminators send back from the hereafter to cull the human race ? ” Johnson enounce . “ What will synthetic biology stand for — restitute our liver and our center with miracle regeneration of the tissues , like some marvellous hangover remedy ? Or will it bring terrifying limbless chicken to our tables ? ”
Johnson , a man who ’s currently embroiled in a controversy over his illegal conclusion to freeze Britain ’s Parliament in the countdown to Brexit , is known for examine tochange the subjectwhenever things are going poorly for him . But it ’s difficult to unpack the honest end of his strange functioning last night . Was Johnson seek to unhinge from his controversies at home , including a sexual urge malicious gossip with a charwoman who was award public money ? Or is Johnson sincerely disquieted about metre jaunt deathbots ?
Johnson then awkwardly segue into a part of the speech where he insisted that the UK was leading the mankind in technological innovation and invited delegates to meet in London . Seriously .
The 15 - minute speech , which is usable on the United Nations’YouTube channel , is even more phantasmagorical to follow if you recall that the British Prime Minister in reality has a flock of exponent . These are n’t the ravings of some mentally disturbed person on the charabanc . This guy has dominance of nuclear weapons .
Johnson ’s speech will probably be dominate by other news in the U.S. , namely the conclusion of House Democrats to finally act like adults and get started with incriminate President Donald Trump . But it ’s deserving watch , if only as a great reminder that Americans are n’t the only ones who are completely fucked at the moment .
The relaxation of the human race is dealing with their own trouble powerful now . And thankfully the U.S. does n’t yet have to contend with “ pink - eyeball ” Terminators sent from the future to demolish mankind .
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