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Long gone are the days when filmmakers like James Cameron had to imagine an artificial intelligence capable of thinking like humans in sci-fi films. With the latest developments in technology, almost too many things have become possible for the computer, including the realistic manipulation of data to aid creativity, something that is a big risk for anyone involved in the process of creation.
James Cameron has time and again worked on films that have dealt with androids, robots, and AI. For the veteran director, AI is as big a risk to humans as experts claim. Cameron recently opened up about his perspective on the debate in an interview with CTV News Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos. Speaking about what he thought could happen, Cameron said:
"I absolutely share their concern...I warned you guys in 1984, and you didn't listen."
The director is referring to his 1984 action film The Terminator, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film is set in a dystopian world where an artificially intelligent network known as Skynet becomes self-aware and almost destroys the human world.
The veteran director also emphasized the need for monitoring this technology and looking at the purpose behind it all. He added:
"I think the weaponization of AI is the biggest danger...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."
James Cameron also expanded on the use of AI in the field of cinema, which is already going through a crisis.
"If an AI wins an Oscar for Best Screenplay, I think we've got to take them seriously"- James Cameron on AI usage in the film industry
With the growth of technology and ease of access, a lot of things are changing very quickly right now. In this growing industry, we have already seen a mass protest by writers against unfair pay from big studios. Moreover, about 160,000 actors and other media professionals, as part of SAG-AFTRA, joined the strike.
Part of this protest movement deals with the use of AI to generate images, artworks, and scripts, replacing humans in these sectors.
Despite the concerns, James Cameron believes that an AI cannot write a script like a human, and it would take a lot of convincing for Cameron to believe it. He said:
"Just don't personally believe that a disembodied mind that's just regurgitating what other embodied minds have said — about the life that they've had, about love, about lying, about fear, about mortality — and just put it all together into a word salad and then regurgitate it … I don't believe that have something that's going to move an audience."
The acclaimed director added:
"Let's wait 20 years, and if an AI wins an Oscar for Best Screenplay, I think we've got to take them seriously."
The Avatar director also confirmed that he never plans to rely on technology to do his work for him. But the threat of artificial intelligence is looming larger than ever right now, and James Cameron rightly believes it is best to be wary.
