Featured Image Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Topics: Melania Trump, US News, Politics, Artificial intelligence, Technology
Rhianna Benson
Topics: Melania Trump, US News, Politics, Artificial intelligence, Technology
Appearing in the White House on Thursday (4 Sept), the First Lady gave attendees an unnerving warning about the incoming threat of robots.
The public engagement comes after weeks of silence from Melania Trump, who hasn't been spotted in public - despite being married to one of the world's most powerful politicians - since July.
Then, she joined her Republican husband on the sidelines of the New Jersey's MetLife Stadium to watch the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 final football match between Chelsea FC and Paris Saint-Germain.
The 55-year-old's absence from the public eye - which comes following several sporadic stints in hiding - didn't go unnoticed by critics.
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"This is just crazy. Melania has been missing for months and now Donny Dementia is off the grid," one X (formerly Twitter) user hit out earlier this week.
Another went on: "Melania is the missing First Lady. She’s never at the WH and does nothing."
Joined by a number of tech leaders yesterday, however, the First Lady re-emerged to make a series of powerful statements about society's ever-increasing reliance on artificially intelligent technology.
Melania began: "The robots are here - our future is no longer science fiction. During this primitive stage, it is our duty to treat AI as we would our own children - empowering, but with watchful guidance."
The mother-of-one - who shares 19-year-old son Barron with President Trump - added that its the responsibility of parents 'to prepare America's children' for the advancements ahead.
"Cars now steer themselves through our cities, robots hold steady hands in the operating room and drones are redefining the future of war," she continued.
"Inventions of first-generation humanoids, factory automation and autonomous vehicles have surged from private sector investment. Every one of these advancements is powered by AI."
Earlier this year, Melania was one of the faces behind the new Take It Down Act, which saw the posting of 'intimate images' without a person's explicit consent, whether real or generated using AI, being criminalised.
She co-signed the legislation in May along with her husband, becoming the debut First Lady to do so.
Melania's focus on the dangers of technology is seemingly one of the only subjects she is willing to make official engagements for.
Prior to Trump's re-election last year, she admitted to planning to split her time between New York, Florida and DC, and would be taking on a more passive role than she did the first time around.
Asked where she'll be spending the most time following Trump's inauguration, Melania revealed: "I will be in the White House. And when I need to be in New York, I will be in New York.
"When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach. My first priority is to be a mum, to be a First Lady, to be a wife."