James Cameron sounds alarm over AI superintelligence

WEB DESK: Legendary director James Cameron, creator of the Terminator franchise, has said that artificial intelligence is no longer a concept of science fiction but a real and growing global threat.

Speaking to ABC host Sarah Ferguson, Cameron, whose groundbreaking sci-fi film The Terminator debuted in 1984, reflected on the rapid rise of AI technology.

When asked if he needed to make a new Terminator movie to illustrate today’s AI possibilities, Cameron said, “I think, look, I’m struggling with exactly how to tell a new Terminator story now that won’t be obsolete in a year. We are literally living at the precipice of what was science fiction back when I did it in the 80s.”

He explained that in the 1980s, it was science fiction to imagine artificial superintelligence, an arms race connected to weapons platforms, and nuclear command and control. “It’s not science fiction anymore. It’s happening, and people will do that because if there ever is, God forbid, such a conflict, it’ll be our AI against their AI or everybody’s AI against everybody’s AI. And the whole war is going to be shot or take place so fast that only an AI superintelligence will be able to counter the moves of another one. And that’s the kind of arms race that scares the hell out of me,” Cameron said.

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The director differentiated between generative AI, which he described as “fun” — like ChatGPT and video creation tools — and the threat of machine superintelligence. “That is an existential threat. This other thing is a nuisance. That’s an actual existential threat. And I don’t think we’re doing enough right now societally to put the brakes on that. And you’ve got a bunch of rich people trying to get richer, trying to be first to that,” he added.

Cameron’s major project, Avatar 3: Fire and Ash, is scheduled for release on December 19, 2025.