Hawking ‘fears not being welcome’ in U.S.,
Stephen Hawking says he no longer feels welcome in the U.S ., now that President Donald Trump is in power.
The British scientist and theoretical physicist spoke Monday on Good Morning Britain about his views on artificial intelligence, climate change and Trump.
“The reaction to the election of Donald Trump may have been overdone, but it represents a definite swing to a right-wing, more authoritarian approach ,” Hawking said.
Of the U.S ., he said :“I have many friends and colleagues there, and it is still a place I like and admire in many ways. But I fear that I may not be welcome.”
Leading up to the U.S. election, Hawking was asked on Good Morning Britain whether he could explain Trump’s rise.
“I can’t,” Hawking said last May. “He’s a demagogue who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator.”
Asked now about that statement, Hawking elaborated on Trump’s victory and his first two months in office.
“Trump was elected by people who felt disenfranchised by the governing elite in a revolt against globalization,” Hawking said Monday. “His priority will be to satisfy his electorate, who are neither liberal nor that well-informed. We have already seen this in the promise to build a wall along the Mexican border and the sanctioning of two oil pipelines and the appointment to the Environmental Protection Agency of Scott Pruitt, a man who does not believe carbon dioxide causes climate change.”
When asked what he most wanted to say to Trump, Hawking said he would tell him Pruitt should be replaced as the EPA chief, adding “climate change is one of the great dangers we face, and it’s one we can prevent.”
Hawking was asked for his opinion on the meaning of life, gender equality and artificial intelligence.
“Ever since the start of the industrial revolution, there have been fears of mass unemployment, as machines replaced humans,” he said. “Instead, a demand f or goods and services has risen in line with the increased capabilities ... there is a greater danger from artificial intelligence if we allow it to become self-designing, for then it can improve itself rapidly, and we may lose control.”