Sir Michael Palin at Cecil Sharp House [Lulu Kyriacou]

SIR Michael Palin warned that the tech revolution and the emergence of the rise of artificial intelligence risked leaving old people behind – warning that the internet shouldn’t be seen as the answer to everything.

He told a sell-out crowd at Cecil Sharp House in Primrose Hill on Thursday that he saw the benefits in the way the world was changing but said there were dangers in having every choice made for you.

He said: “ You feel you can answer every question just by getting onto the right website, but you can’t really. A lot of the questions you want to ask have come from direct contact with whoever you’re talking to because life isn’t linear, you don’t sort of sit down and say, I want to talk about X, Y and Z.

“Part of the enjoyment of conversation and teaching is that you both exchange ideas and sometimes ideas are very unusual. They’re different or they’re not the obvious connection that you would get if you went to a website.” Sir Michael, who lives in Gospel Oak, was appearing at fundraiser for Age UK Camden and was interviewed beforehand by his own daughter Rachel – a trustee of the charity.

SEE ALSO SIR MICHAEL PALIN’S FULL INTERVIEW FOR AGE UK CAMDEN

The Monty Python star and travel documentary maker is now 80 but said he still sometimes felt like he was in his 20s.

Nevertheless, he said he needed help with some aspects of new tech from his children. “Technology is moving so fast and has the ability to not just help you think but think what you think and select what you see and what you do,” he said.

“Now all the possibilities for a technical change are there and in some ways it improves our lifestyle enormously. In other ways, I think there are very bad problems stored up for us. Older people will be left behind because they don’t have the knowledge or the ability to take advantage of the digital world the way the young can – they just seem to automatically be able to work their iPhones and all that sort of thing.”

The audience listened to Sir Michael’s anecdotes from his travels and comedy career

An Evening With Sir Michael Palin raised £17,000 for the charity which supports elderly residents, including help with digital inclusion.

Sir Michael said he had loved living in Camden because its “open to change and diversity, it’s not blinkered and it’s not totally kind of mono-cultural at all”, adding: “There’s a lot going on. And as a traveller, I appreciate the fact that there are many, many people in Camden from different lands and different places and I find that quite stimulating.”

Mary Burd, Chair of Age UK Camden said: “We are delighted to have the tremendous support of Sir Michael Palin to help fundraise for the vital work and services provided by our charity. Our focus at Age UK Camden is on helping and supporting older people in the borough of Camden and they need our help now more than ever before.

This year, we have supported more than 4,000 older people, which is 14% of Camden’s over 65s. From information and advice, counselling and care navigation, to befriending – including a specialist dementia befriending service – digital inclusion and running our positive living centres Henderson Court in Hampstead and Great Croft in Kings Cross, our services make a real difference to people’s lives. We want to continue providing support to those who are already using our services, but also reach and help even more people.”

As a local independent charity, Age UK Camden is dependent on support for a significant proportion of its income to continue delivering our vital services. If you would like to donate, donations can be made online at www.ageukcamden.org.uk or by text. To donate £10 text AUCP10 to 70460 or to donate £20 text AUCP20 to 70460. Texts will cost the donation amount plus one standard network rate message.