Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson admits being a fan of artificial intelligence and has used the cutting-edge tech to help write his upcoming books.
“One thing that really encourages me is AI,” Johnson, 61, said while speaking to Al Arabiya English. “I love AI. I love ChatGPT. I love it. ChatGPT is frankly fantastic.”
The conservative politician has been candid about using the AI platform when writing his novels. Johnson, who has been authoring books for over two decades since 2001, most recently published his 2024 memoir Unleashed.
“I’m writing various books. But I just use it. I just ask questions,” the writer said when prompted about how he uses the tool.
Johnson also pointed out that he enjoyed the compliments that ChatGPT would give him in their interactions.
“You know the answer, but ChatGPT always says, ‘Oh, your questions are clever. You’re brilliant. You’re excellent. You have such insight,’” Johnson said. “I love it. I see great promise in this technology because we’re all simple. We’re human beings.”
Beyond raving about AI for personal use, Johnson firmly said he believed the technology was a game changer for reducing costs.
“If you have automated systems that can engage with people… suddenly you’re gonna be able to bring the costs down.”
Johnson says artificial intelligence will benefit the government and welfare systems, citing England’s HS2 high-speed railway as a prime example of where automation could cut costs.
“If HS2 costs £100 billion ($133 billion), roughly…most of the cost of that is going on lawyers and environmental impact assessments and planning applications and all sorts of stuff that is not actually digging tunnels or putting down railway lines.”
The politician explained, “It’s all about legal nonsense, 50 percent at least. So much of that can be done with AI. You don’t need this stuff anymore, and you can massively accelerate the legal process.”
Arguing the U.K. was one of the world leaders in artificial intelligence, the former conservative leader said the country should be “using that lead to cut the cost of government…then you can put that money back into the pockets of people and stimulate growth.”
“That’s the way to get out of the doom loop,” Johnson explained.
Johnson was prime minister from 2019 until his resignation in 2022. During his tenure, the conservative leader faced controversy over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Johnson was embroiled in the “Partygate” scandal, where government officials gathered for drinks despite lockdown enforcement orders. He was also slammed for misleading parliament and a raft of ethics complaints.
Since leaving his post, Johnson shared he’s been kept busy with “a lot on [his] plate,” but has nonetheless been “very happy…writing a lot and drawing and painting.”
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