Legendary Director James Cameron Says He Warned Everybody About the Dangers of AI In 1984

Legendary director James Cameron says he warned everybody about AI being dangerous back in 1984 but people didn’t listen.

In an interview with CTV News, the director of Terminator (pictured above) discussed his views about artificial intelligence. Cameron weighed in on the recent developments of AI, as well as their negative impact on society and risks posed to humanity.

In a bombshell interview that feels timelier than ever for those who fear AI, considering the 160,000 actors on strike protesting the use of AI to “clone” their likeness, James Cameron expanded on some of the issues around AI.

From the report:

Many of the so-called godfathers of AI have recently issued warnings about the need to regulate the rapidly advancing technology before it poses a larger threat to humanity. “I absolutely share their concern,” Cameron told CTV News Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos in a Canadian exclusive interview… “I warned you guys in 1984, and you didn’t listen,” he said…
“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… You could imagine an AI in a combat theatre, the whole thing just being fought by the computers at a speed humans can no longer intercede, and you have no ability to deescalate…”

Also read: More than 70% of Chinese, Saudi, and Indians Feel Positively About Artificial Intelligence. Americans? 35%

The director also emphasized some of the most pressing concerns about AI, namely which companies are involved in creating AI products and what their true purpose is.

Cameron said it’s important to evaluate who is developing the technology, and whether they’re doing it for profit — “teaching greed” — or for defence, what he called “teaching paranoia.”

His comments come in the context of the SAG-AFTRA union strike. In recent weeks, 160,000 actors and people working in entertainment have joined the 11,000 members of the Writers Guild Of America, who have been striking since May. The two unions are demanding the right to refuse their image of their work being used by AI technology, from their image being generated by AI to their work being used to train AI to generate scripts.

On the idea that AI can write scripts that have the potential to move an audience, James Cameron was less worried about the dangers of artificial intelligence.

“Let’s wait 20 years, and if an AI wins an Oscar for Best Screenplay, I think we’ve got to take them seriously,” he said.

Also read: Watch: Disney’s AI FRAN Makes Actors Younger Or Older In Seconds