Director James Cameron Says He Warned of the Dangers of AI in ‘Terminator’ Movie

James Cameron speaks during the ceremony for the unveiling of Zoe Saldana's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, Calif., on May 3, 2018. Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

Director James Cameron claims he tried to warn people about the dangers posed by artificial intelligence (AI) in his 1984 movie “The Terminator” but that his concerns fell on deaf ears.

Mr. Cameron, who has directed a string of films including “Avatar” and “The Titanic,” made the comments in an interview with CTV News which aired on July 18.

The Oscar-winning director said he had attempted to raise his concerns about AI nearly 40 years ago when “The Terminator,” which he co-wrote and directed, hit screens.

The movie centered on a cyborg assassin, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who travels back in time to kill Sarah Connor, played by actress Linda Hamilton, whose unborn son will be the one to save humanity and prevent a nuclear holocaust sparked by an AI system.

“I warned you guys in 1984, and you didn’t listen,” Mr. Cameron said, adding that he “absolutely” shares the general consensus among various AI experts that rapidly advancing technology needs to be regulated to ensure it does not pose a threat to humanity.

Mr. Cameron also said he believes it is also important to ensure that the individuals and companies working on advanced AI technology are doing so for the right reasons, otherwise, there could be deadly consequences.

“I think the weaponization of AI is the biggest danger,” he said. “I think that we will get into the equivalent of a nuclear arms race with AI, and if we don’t build it, the other guys are for sure going to build it, and so then it'll escalate.”

Visitors walk past an AI (artificial intelligence) security robot named APV3 with a facial recognition system at the 14th China International Exhibition on Public Safety and Security at the China International Exhibition Center in Beijing on Oct. 24, 2018. Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images

Musk Says China Ready to Work on AI Regulations

“You could imagine an AI in a combat theater, the whole thing just being fought by the computers at a speed humans can no longer intercede, and you have no ability to de-escalate,” he continued.

Mr. Cameron’s comments echo those of multiple experts including businessman and Twitter owner Elon Musk, who recently told U.S. lawmakers that regulations are needed for AI to prevent companies from taking “dangerous” shortcuts that could negatively impact humanity when rolling out advanced technology.

Speaking to Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) on July 12 shortly after unveiling his new AI company, xAI, Mr. Musk said he believes a “digital superintelligence” could exist within the next 5–6 years, although he stressed that it would not necessarily be “smarter than the sum of all humans.”

Mr. Musk also spoke about China’s communist regime, which is seen as a growing threat to the United States when it comes to the AI dominance race and has been outspending the United States on such technology.

China has reportedly been spending vast sums of money on developing AI capabilities related to military decision-making and command and control.

AI (artificial intelligence) security cameras using facial recognition technology are displayed at the 14th China International Exhibition on Public Safety and Security at the China International Exhibition Center in Beijing, China, on Oct. 24, 2018. Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images

China’s Plan for AI Dominance

According to a 2017 plan released by Beijing titled “New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan,” China has ambitious goals when it comes to developing advanced technology, including achieving “major breakthroughs in basic theories for AI, such that some technologies and applications achieve a world-leading level and AI becomes the main driving force for China’s industrial upgrading and economic transformation” by 2025.

“The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) will profoundly change human society and life and change the world,” the 2017 plan states.

Ms. Khanna and Mr. Gallagher echoed comments made by other Republican lawmakers that the CCP may be looking to use its increasingly advanced technology to “perfect a technical totalitarian surveillance state” and for other negative reasons.

However, Mr. Musk, who recently visited China in May, told lawmakers that he believes China is “on team humanity,” when it comes to artificial intelligence, telling the lawmakers that he had spoken with senior Chinese officials during his trip and they had expressed an interest in working on a cooperative international regulatory framework for AI.

Other experts, including officials at the World Economic Forum, have raised concerns that AI could wipe out thousands of American jobs, while Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis, acting deputy representative to the United Nations, told a U.N. Security Council High-Level briefing on AI Tuesday that AI has the potential to intensify conflicts, spread dis-information, exacerbate human rights abuses, and amplify bias and inequality.

Touching on the issue of potential job losses owing to AI in his interview with CTV News, Mr. Cameron said he does not believe the technology is currently at or will soon be at a level where it can replace movie writers.

“It’s never an issue of who wrote it, it’s a question of, is it a good story?” he said, although the director noted he himself would “certainly wouldn’t be interested” in utilizing AI in writing his scripts.