Busta Rhymes has a “significant concern” about the unchecked power of artificial intelligence.
The 12-time Grammy-winning rapper, 51, said any technology controlled by powers worries him.
He told the Guardian in a question-and-answer session with fans: “Anything that the government and the powers that be can create to try to play God is of great concern to me.
“I just think when you're playing with anything that replaces the mind, body and soul, and to the point where it really devalues it, that's serious.”
He added about his belief that phones take human souls: “They gave us these devices and if you talk in a certain way, the phone stores all the data and then it thinks about you. Then when you message someone, words appear as you type it, so you don't have to type it anymore!
“The phone takes your soul. The way you think. You become you.
“That's a really weird (thing) when you think about it, right? When AI reaches a place of evolution and they feel, “(To hell with) humans!” These are some (things) that I don't know what the solution is.
“With artificial intelligence, (we're messing with) something really dangerous.”
Busta, real name Trevor George Smith Jr, also spoke about how he once told David Bowie how although his interracial relationship with his wife Iman was “beautiful”.
He added: “I spent time in England when I was a little boy, staying in places like Morecambe, Preston and Blackpool. Wham!, Culture Club, David Bowie – they were all blowing up.
“In the summer holidays, my mother would always send me (from New York) for a month to stay with our family abroad, and we had many families who emigrated from Jamaica to England. It was also to stay out of trouble in Brooklyn.
“In England, it was the first time I saw an interracial relationship in public. So when I was with Bowie on tour, I told him it was great to see a beautiful black interracial relationship with the incredible Iman.”
