Much like his on-screen character, Robert Downey Jr., famous for playing genius billionaire philanthropist Tony Stark(Iron Man), has announced his plans to save the planet with the aid of robotics and Artificial Intelligence.
Speaking at Amazon’s Machine Learning, Automation, Robotics, and Space(MARS) conference in Las Vegas, the actor announced The Footprint Coalition, an organization whose primary mission is to divert the environmental disaster looming over the earth using artificial intelligence, robotics, and technology.
Mr Downey Jr. said of his inspiration for the coalition, “Quick disclaimer, I don’t pretend to understand the complexities we face as a species, just because I portrayed a genius in my professional life. My scholastic achievement peaked at a correctional finishing ,” he said alluding to his less than savory past, “On the flip side, I did play an interesting and iconic character for 11 years, Tony Stark, a soulless war profiteer to a man who was willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the community.
He continues, “Recently, I was at a table with super smart, impressive, expert folks about six months ago, and the following statement was made: ‘Between robotics and technology, we could probably clean up the planet significantly, if not entirely within a decade. Being essentially a 54-year-old child, I said, ‘Let’s do it! Let’s commit to a process, let’s form a coalition.’ And that did not inspire the reaction I expected. It was dead silence.”
He then explained that the intellectuals’ silence preceded an explanation that while the technology is available, there’s left the bigger hurdle of fostering political will and intergovernmental cooperation, and getting corporations to share their IP. All these have to be factored in in order to implement his idea but are significantly lacking.
Downey then adds, “I know, it’s a kumbaya-type dream. It’s a logistical cluster@*#. I’m down with dedicating myself to maybe one small part of making good on that statement. Even in abject failure, it’s still the best idea I’ve ever had.”
He says the actual organization will launch by April 2020. Currently it only exists as a basic website; which does not give much insight into what exactly the coalition will do. The actor however appears driven and fully believing of the potential of using technology as an agent of change.
Winding up, he says, “Between robotics and nanotechnology we could probably clean up the planet significantly, if not entirely, within a decade. In 11 years, when I’m 65, if we’ve made even a little dent in what I think is a massive threat to our future and the mess we leave behind, I’m going to come back and throw the nuttiest retirement party you’ve ever seen.”
This is not the actor’s first venture into AI, alongside his wife Susan Downey, the couple is producing an 8 episode docu-series about AI set to air on YouTube. The docu-series, initially announced a year ago, is meant to explore AI and its potential impact on people’s lives.