Stephen Fry is convinced empathy will be built into artificial intelligence products.
Stephen Fry is convinced empathy will be built into artificial intelligence products
The ‘Blackadder’ and ‘Fry and Laurie’ comic, 66, has compared the rise in the technology with the industrial revolution and said corporate-style writing is going to rely on AI – but insisted the need to treat humans equally will also be included in the tech’s make-up.
He told The Observer: “Any writing that is the equivalent of digging a canal in the 17th century – summations, precis of things, reports – will be done this way (with AI.)
“We progressed from steam shovels to JCBs, and nobody would call for a second to abandon these machines that do these backbreaking, laborious, repetitive, meaningless jobs.”
Stephen warned about his worries for humanity: “What worries me is that it’s taken us hundreds of years, through the age of reason and the Enlightenment and modern times to come to grips with the fact that all human beings should be treated equally.”
But he insisted about how such lessons will be included in future computer networks: “That sense will be built into our AI frameworks.”
Stephen also warned superpowers will handle the tech differently.
He said: “China and Russia have completely different ethical frameworks, and the idea that these realms (humanity and computing) can be kept separate... well, it’s a bit like saying, ‘If I pee into the Channel, it’ll never get to the Pacific.’
“Yes, you can put up firewalls, a bit like waves and dams, but things always get through.”
Stephen, who has starred in more than 60 TV shows, at least 50 films and written 17 books, is now on screen in the film ‘Treasure’ alongside ‘Girls’ creator Lena Dunham.
It sees him play Edek, a Polish Holocaust survivor, reluctantly turning to his homeland with his journalist daughter played by 38-year-old Lena.
Stephen said about taking the part: “Just occasionally, roles come along that ask for something else, and to have someone like Lena to work with – I fell in love with her straight away.”
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