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Earlier this week Boris Johnson delivered a speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations. It got little media attention. That may have been partly due to the different time zones –

it was delivered very early yesterday morning our time. There was also the distraction of our country being in the grip of a constitutional crisis – and after he gave his speech the Prime

Minister flew straight back from New York to address it. Yet in some ways, it was an extraordinary and an important speech. The theme of it was technological change and the tone was quite

different to anything the UN might have heard from, say, Gordon Brown or Theresa May. The delegates looked alternately amused, enthralled or baffled. As with his old _Daily Telegraph_

columns, Boris would present both sides of an argument, a technique which endeavours to keep apposing sides engaged, before giving his own conclusion. This is how he uses his brain.

(Incidentally, this means the charge that he was cynical in backing Brexit in the EU referendum, as he had written draft pieces for both Leave and Remain misses the point. For him it is a

routine mental exercise to assess the pro and cons of each issue.) Therefore, the concerns of technological change were addressed with good humour, but also fearlessly and with some rigour.

But the emphatic message was of excitement and optimism about the changes under way with a willingness to take risk. While the speed of change was already rapid, the demand was to go faster.

“It is a trope as old as literature that any scientific advance is punished by the Gods, ” said Johnson. “When Prometheus brought fire to mankind. In a tube of fennel, as you may remember,

that Zeus punished him by chaining him to a tartarean crag while his liver was pecked out by an eagle and every time his liver regrew the eagle came back and pecked it again. This went on

for ever – a bit like the experience of Brexit in the UK, if some of our parliamentarians had their way. “In fact it was standard poetic practice to curse the protos heuretes – the person

responsible for any scientific or technical breakthrough. If only they had never invented the ship, then Jason would never have sailed to Colchis and all sorts of disasters would never have

happened. “It is a deep human instinct to be wary of any kind of technical progress.” The danger of “digital authoritarianism” was acknowledged. “A future Alexa will pretend to take orders.

But this Alexa will be watching you, clucking her tongue and stamping her foot.” He added: “How do you plead with an algorithm? How do you get it to see the extenuating circumstances?” Might

artificial intelligence end up with “pink eyed terminators sent back from the future to cull the human race”? In “making ethical judgements” in what was permitted it was necessary to be

constrained by our “values”. But the overall message was of excitement at what is being achieved: “Neural interface technology is producing a new generation of cochlear implants, allowing

the gift of hearing to people who would not otherwise be able to hear the voices of their children.” He added that “a London technology company has worked out how to help the blind to

navigate more freely with nothing more than an app on their smartphones. New technologies, produced in Britain, helping the deaf to hear and the blind to see.” In his peroration our Prime

Minister offered the following message to the world: “If we master this challenge – and I have no doubt that we can – then we will not only safeguard our ideals, we will surmount the limits

that once constrained humanity and conquer the perils that once ended so many lives. Together, we can vanquish killer diseases, eliminate famine, protect the environment and transform our

cities. Success will depend, now as ever, on freedom, openness and pluralism, the formula that not only emancipates the human spirit, but releases the boundless ingenuity and inventiveness

of mankind.” I doubt the rest of the world was taking much more notice than the British media. However I do think that Boris meant what he said. Rather than it being a politician reciting a

turgid address scripted by diplomats this message was authentic. What will Boris do about it? At present not much – as he is enfeebled by Parliament from doing anything very much. But if the

Conservatives win a clear majority at the impending general election and Brexit is finally delivered then we could see Johnson as a powerful prime minister for several years. His instinct

is not to dodge controversy. Risk is something he thrives on. From shale gas to GM crops his instinct will be to be bold. Rather than waiting to see what other countries do first, the desire

for the UK to be pioneering will be a patriotic imperative. Regulations and incentives will be set in a way that aims to attract innovators and inventors to our nation rather than drive

them away. It may not be easy. Successes may be ignored and when something goes wrong there will be a chorus of complaint about the irresponsibility of allowing it to happen. Seeking to push

ahead with these technological changes rather than constraining them will be an important approach. However many jokes he tell along the way it could leave Johnson with a serious legacy.