In a hilarious appearance on “Last Week Tonight” – John Oliver’s HBO show – guest Stephen Hawking spoke about some rather interesting concepts. Among these were the concepts of “imaginary time” and, more interestingly, artificial intelligence. And much to the surprise of Oliver, and perhaps more than a few viewers, Hawking’s was not too keen on the idea of the latter. In fact, his predictions were just a tad bit dire.

Of course, this is not the first time Oliver had a scientific authority on his show, as demonstrated by his recent episode which dealt with Climate Change and featured guest speaker Bill Nye “The Science Guy”. When asked about the concept of imaginary time, Hawking explained it as follows:

Imaginary time is like another direction in space. It’s the one bit of my work science fiction writers haven’t used.

In sum, imaginary time has something to do with time that runs in a different direction to the time that guides the universe and ravages us on a daily basis. And according to Hawking, the reason why sci-fi writers haven’t built stories around imaginary time is apparently due to the fact that  “They don’t understand it”. As for artificial intelligence, Hawking replied without any sugar-coating:

Artificial intelligence could be a real danger in the not too distant future. [For your average robot could simply] design improvements to itself and outsmart us all.

Oliver, channeling his inner 9-year-old, asked: “But why should I not be excited about fighting a robot?” Hawking offered a very scientific response: “You would lose.” And in that respect, he was absolutely right. One of the greatest concerns with AI, for better or for worse, is the fact that a superior intelligence, left alone to its own devices, would find ways to produce better and better machines without human oversight or intervention.

At worst, this could lead to the machines concluding that humanity is no longer necessary. At best, it would lead to an earthly utopia where machines address all our worries. But in all likelihood, it will lead to a future where the pace of technological change will impossible to predict. As history has repeatedly shown, technological change brings with it all kinds of social and political upheaval. If it becomes a runaway effect, humanity will find it impossible to keep up.

Keeping things light, Oliver began to worry that Hawking wasn’t talking to him at all. Instead, this could be a computer spouting wisdoms. To which, Hawking replied: “You’re an idiot.” Oliver also wondered whether, given that there may be many parallel universes, there might be one where he is smarter than Hawking. “Yes,” replied the physicist. “And also a universe where you’re funny.”

Well at least robots won’t have the jump on us when it comes to being irreverent. At least… not right away! Check out the video of the interview below: