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Daly Star Online was in the audience when Schmidt, 62, was discussing AI with Professor Brian Cox during BBC's Tomorrow's World Live at London's Science Museum.

Members of the crowd were allowed to ask Schmidt – stepping down as executive chairman of Google's parent tech company Alphabet – questions on AI in future.

Seamus Ray, sitting among the audience, asked: "(Vladimir) Putin said last year that whoever wins this race or in facts leads in AI will rule the world.

"And we also had China saying that by 2024 they want to lead this race. What are your views on that?

The America thanked Seamus for bringing the subject up, before admitting he fears what rival nations may do with the technology.

He responded: "I'm very concerned about this.

"I think that both the Russian and the Chinese leaders have recognised the value of this, not just for their commercial aspirations, but also their military aspirations.

"It is very, very important that the incredible engines that exist in Europe, and Britain, wherever, United States etc, get more funding for basic research, ethics and so forth.

"I'd like us to deal with the Chinese and Russian competition not by copying their approaches, but being more like us, more of the incredible intellects that have been produced here in this country.

"Think about the tradition of science represented by the Science Museum here and the history.

(Image: GETTY)

"I literally am incredibly in debt to the last 150 years, as you all are of the British scientists.

"Let's have more of them. Let's celebrate them. Let's get as many people to come here from other countries to do the same thing.

"Let's outrun them with our own intelligence, rather than any other outcome."

Schmidt will remain on Alphabet's board as technical adviser, having worked as CEO for Google for a decade up until 2011 – playing a crucial role in its global success.

His comments come after a series of exclusive Daily Star Online interviews with Professor in Computer Engineering, Dr Subhash Kak, who believes AI will "sink the world into unemployed despair" in a hellish "dystopia".

He also believes self-driving cars will result in a third of all jobs being lost, and that robots may potentially "enslave" humans before taking over.