Stephen Hawking shutting down John Oliver shows how brilliant his sense of humour was

The late Professor Stephen Hawking possessed one of the most brilliant minds in history.

He also had a fantastic sense of humour.

In 2014 he appeared on Last Week Tonight with comedian John Oliver, where he demonstrated that his put down game was as strong as his science.

The duo touched on lots of topics, including one of the theoretical physicist’s less known theories, imaginary time.

They also talked about artificial intelligence, and after a brief back-and-forth where Professor Hawking warned about the dangers of unchecked artificial intelligence, Oliver mocked it and the conversation went like this:

John Oliver: Who is talking to me right now, is it you, or is it the sentient computer pretending to talk on your behalf?

Stephen Hawking: It’s me.

JO: Yeah, but how do I know that professor? If computers had become sentient, what better way to convince people they hadn’t then by co-opting the voice of the most intelligent man on the planet?

SH: You’re an idiot.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver screengrab

Oliver then posed a question to the smartest man in the world, about parallel universes.

JO: You’ve stated that there could be an infinite number of parallel universes. Does that mean there is a universe out there where I am smarter than you?

SH: Yes. And also a universe where you’re funny.

Burn.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver screengrab

Rest in peace, Professor Hawking.

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