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How The Terminator is shaping our concerns about AI, 40 years on
- The Terminator film franchise has exerted an outsize influence on how society frames arguments around the existential dangers posed by AI-controlled machines, say experts. The films drew attention to fears of a machine uprising and AI technologies that “absolutely will not stop… until you are dead”. Contemporary dangers include introducing biases into algorithms for employment applications and the risk of certain types of jobs, such as software programming, being replaced by generative AI. But it is the existential threat that dominates public discussion. The six Terminator films often distract from the benefits offered by AI.
- Elon Musk is among the technology leaders who have helped keep focus on the alleged existential threat superintelligent AI could pose. But likening AI to the Terminator has led to criticism from some, who argue an undue focus on hypothetical scenarios has overshadowed the benefits of AI technologies.
- However, genuine concerns persist about the military applications of autonomous weapons, which experts warn could be deadly with superhuman accuracy. AI is already being used to support military targeting although human drone operators continue to play a role in challenging machines' recommendations. Countries such as the US specify human operators should exercise “appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force” when operating autonomous weapon systems.
- AI systems are also being built into small, cheap aerial drones and ground-based robots for use on battlefields. Critics argue there have already been instances of these “loitering munitions”, designed to hover over battlefields, being used without suitable human controllers.
- The international community, small nations and superpowers alike, need to cooperate and find ways to manage the ethical and legal challenges of AI in times of geopolitical upheaval, according to experts. This will require political will, argue the specialists, if dystopian futures predicted by such films as The Terminator, with its time-travelling cyborgs and robot uprisings, can be avoided.
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