James Cameron On Rise Of AI: "I Warned You In 1984 And You Didn't Listen"

Canadian filmmaker James Cameron has expressed agreement with AI experts' warnings about the potential dangers posed by advancements in artificial intelligence. Speaking to CTV, Cameron acknowledged the concerns raised by the "godfathers of AI" regarding the need for regulation before AI becomes a significant threat to humanity.

"I warned you guys in 1984 [with Terminator], and you didn't listen," Cameron said. "I think the weaponization of AI is the biggest danger… 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."

Meanwhile, the ongoing writers' and actors' strikes in the United States have also highlighted the need for regulating AI. In his Canadian TV interview, Cameron said his philosophy there boils down to "it's never an issue of who wrote it, it's a question of, is it a good story?" Cameron added, "I 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's going to move an audience."

Cameron also urged caution but also a willingness to "wait 20 years, and if an AI wins an Oscar for Best Screenplay, I think we've got to take them seriously."

The writer-director is currently on the planned Avatar sequels. The next three Avatar films have been delayed by a year each, meaning the entire series should now wrap up in 2031.