Oscar-winning director James Cameron knows a thing or two about artificial intelligence — after all, he conceived of Skynet, the AI system that tried to end humanity in the Terminator films.
However, in real life, he tells Sean Hayes, Will Arnett and Jason Bateman‘s SmartLess podcast that we also have something to fear about the technology.
“I’m not afraid but I’m certainly pretty concerned about the potential of misuse of AI,” the Avatar director said. “I think AI can be pretty great. I think it could also literally be the end of the world.”
He agreed that experts in the field “start laughing” at him when he brings it up, given his Terminator bona fides, but he clarifies, “The point is that no technology has ever not been weaponized.”
Cameron asks, “And do we really want to be fighting something smarter than us that isn’t us? On our own world? I don’t think so.”
He also added, “Look, an AI could have taken over the world and already be manipulating it but we just don’t know because it would have total control over all the media and everything. And what better explanation is there for how absurd everything is right now?” he said. “Because nothing makes a damn bit of sense to me, I don’t know about you guys,” he said to his hosts.
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