Arnold Schwarzenegger Credits The Terminator Franchise With Predicting AI
Maybe the most frustrating aspect of watching old sci-fi movies is how often we realize society has completely failed to pick up on their lessons. "Black Mirror" did a whole episode about evil robot dogs rising up and hunting down humanity, and yet Boston Dynamics keeps working on their own robotic dogs with zero apparent concern. They do briefly address viewers' fears about a robot dog uprising, telling us not to worry: "For the robot you're just an object that is too big to step on." But this isn't nearly as comforting a line as they seem to think.
Meanwhile, with the recent rise of AI, people are once again pointing to the "Terminator" franchise as a way to understand what's going on. What will happen when artificial intelligence advances to the point where it becomes truly self-aware? We don't know yet, but if these movies are anything to go by, we better hang on tight.
"At that time we [had] scratched the surface of AI, artificial intelligence," said Arnold Schwarzenegger, speaking recently about the original "Terminator" at an event titled "An Evening with Arnold Schwarzenegger" in Los Angeles (via People). "Now over the course of decades, it has become a reality. So it's not any more fantasy or kind of futuristic. It is here today. And so this is the extraordinary writing of Jim Cameron." This might all sound a little too dramatic, but the first part of the "Terminator" franchise's premise — that the people in charge of making increasingly sentient machines would confidently assure us that this will never backfire in any way — is definitely here. Fingers crossed that we're just living in the world of the first two movies, not the third.
Embracing that uncertainty
In an ABC interview back in March, James Cameron shared his own thoughts on the advancements in AI. "I think AI can be pretty great," he said. "I think it could also literally be the end of the world." It's that central contradiction that's made "T2: Judgement Day" the most popular entry, the one that ensured the series would be a pop culture staple for decades to come. Whereas the first movie was only really about the bad side of AI, the second one had Arnold Schwarzenegger return as a hero here to help. The thing that prevented AI from taking over the world was, in the end, also AI. It destroyed the world, then went back and saved it.
Of course, even with the robot technically saving the day, the "Terminator" franchise has also argued again and again that AI can't work without humans effectively guiding it. The Terminator in "T2" is good not just because he's programmed to protect John and Sarah, but because he listens to them most of the time, and even learns about a few human catchphrases and customs while he's at it. "Terminator 3" (which wasn't directed by Cameron) culminates in a scene where Schwarzenegger's Terminator is literally reprogrammed by the villainous T-X to kill John Connor, but he refuses. Somewhere along the way he had managed to form an actual, human connection with the people he's programmed to protect, and that makes him capable of genuine human agency.
It's silly, sure, but it's a sweet idea. AI may be a scary thing capable of destroying everything we love, the franchise argues, but we'll survive as long as humans don't get too caught up in their own hubris. Like pretty much any other technology humans have created, AI is only as good or bad as what we do with it.