Sir Ridley Scott keeps a supply of “candles, matches and guns” at home just in case the world is plunged into a crisis by AI technology.
Sir Ridley Scott is always prepared in case of a crisis
The ‘Blade Runner’ director – who lives in Los Angeles – is convinced society is heading for a fate even worse than the world shown in his 1982 sci-fi movie and he wants to make sure he is prepared for an emergency at all times.
In an interview with his ‘Gladiator II’ star Paul Mescal for the Guardian newspaper, Ridley explained: “The world in ‘Blade Runner’ is run by two people and we’re heading in that direction, if not worse.
“And with AI, the first thing you ask of it is to design an AI smarter than itself. Then you get one smarter than you are. At what moment do you overload it with so much information it gets pressure?
“Pressure is emotion. And when that thing’s emotional, we are in trouble. If the AI doesn’t like us, we’re in deep s***. They could switch us off for fun.”
He added: “You’d be medieval in six weeks. You switch that off and we are so helpless it’s crazy. Have you got candles in your house? Have you got matches?
“I have candles, matches and guns because I live in LA. Do I ever want to use a gun? God forbid no, but you ought to be always slightly conscious of where the world is going right now.”
Ridley went on to insist he does let his imagination run wild, but there’s no harm in being ready for the worst case scenario especially given the turbulent political situations elsewhere in the world.
He shared: “My imagination runs a little bit ahead of me. I see the pitfalls. And right now you’ve got many terrible situations in Europe and north Africa and east Asia. They’re playing games.”