The Lord of the Rings star on AI: "The human race does face extinction"

John Rhys-Davies, known for portraying Gimli, has a chilling take on the technology.
Text: Ben Lyons
Published 2025-08-09

We all have some fears and concerns about how artificial intelligence is creeping into our daily lives, some more so than others. Jonathan Rhys-Davies for one, known for playing Gilmi in The Lord of the Rings, is very concerned about the future of AI, something he made very clear during an appearance at FanX's Tampa Bay Comic Convention.

Speaking during a panel, as per Collider, Rhys-Davies noted that AI is an extinction-level threat for humans, especially actors who have no future.

In full, he explained: "There is no future for actors. I know a little bit about science. I work for Mars sometimes, and [I'm a part] of the Astronomical Society. We are creating a new species, a species that has almost infinite growth potential. There was a senior AI guy today who said the human race does face extinction. And he was right — in my point of view.

"One refused to turn itself off. Another threatened to blackmail its creators. And a third tried to write a subprogram to restart itself. There are multiple demons being created as we speak."

Rhys-Davies went on to note that one of the core issues with AI is that we exist in the same ecological niche, one where if we lost control of electricity it could prove fatal and catastrophic for humanity. In the sombre statement, he explains that there's no real hope of controlling AI and that "it won't work" if we attempt to co-exist with the technology.

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