Jeremy Clarkson is urging people to 'de-tech' their lives before artificial intelligence makes a 'mess of the world', admitting he does not trust his mobile phone to handle his banking.
The Clarkson's Farm star, who famously used a seed-planting robot controlled from his office, said a year on he believes it is time to wind back technology before it takes over. He acknowledged that people laugh at him for refusing to use his phone for payments.
Warning over AI's potential for havoc
Clarkson said: "If it's really true that someone could, and probably will, use AI to make a mess of the world, perhaps it's time to de-tech our lives." He questioned whether life would be worse without constant robot checks, forgotten passwords, or demands for email addresses before proceeding.
The Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? host also highlighted his iPad-controlled central heating, which lets him set precise temperatures per room. He said: "I'm sure it's all very clever but why do I need that in my life? I only ever want to be a 'bit warmer' or a 'bit cooler' and a thermostat on the wall can do that. Plus, a thermostat can't be hacked by someone who wants to remotely boil my dogs."
From car tech to robot Olympics
Clarkson extended his criticism to car technology, saying he does not need automatic lights, rain-sensing wipers, or beeps when he chooses to speed. He also mocked a person who remotely runs a bath via phone, calling it "madness" and "an invitation for Blofeld to flood your house."
He lampooned the Americans for inventing the £1m Fisher Space Pen for Apollo astronauts, contrasting it with a Russian cosmonaut's simpler solution: a pencil. Clarkson, 66, cited hacks of French supermarket fridges, where temperatures were raised to 50C, as a "warning" of potential AI misuse.
Concern over future cyber threats
Clarkson recounted the robot Olympics in China, where machines fell over and malfunctioned, leading him to conclude the Terminator is "still some way off." He noted that doom-mongers have since changed tack, pointing to the cyber-attack on French supermarket freezers as a demonstration of potential havoc.
He said the hackers could have targeted Fort Knox or UBS, remote-piloted an airliner, or reversed sewage plants, but instead chose to spoil camembert. Clarkson joked about the French reaction, then added: "I agree, it's annoying, but compared with what could have been done, it doesn't sound that bad. But, who knows, tomorrow it could be the steering on your car."
