‘I Warned You in 1984’: ‘Titanic’, ‘Terminator’ Director Says AI ‘Weaponization’ a Global Risk

In recent weeks, Oscar-winning director James Cameron was in the news because of his involvement in the deep-sea exploration industry following the tragic loss of OceanGate's submersible Titan while on its way down to the wreckage of the Titanic. At one point, he criticized the company for its "arrogance and hubris," which resulted in the death of the firm's CEO Stockton Rush and four others.

This time, Cameron, who also directed the 1984 action film "Terminator," expressed concerns over recent discoveries made by artificial intelligence (AI) experts regarding its capabilities.

"I think the weaponization of AI is the biggest danger," he told Canadian broadcaster CTV Tuesday (July 18). "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."

His comments were solicited after leaders in the AI field have supported regulation, highlighting the need to ensure general AI benefits humanity in the long run and not become a risk to it.

"I absolutely share their concern," Cameron added. "I warned you guys in 1984, and you didn't listen."

He also noted the importance of assessing who was developing the technology and what their goal was by operating in the field.

AI and Artistic Creation

As for AI replacing writers and creators, he believed it would be a future issue, if it was not already one based on the people behind the writers' and actors' strike in Hollywood, saying it was "never an issue of who wrote it," but if it was a good story.

"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..." he added. "I don't believe that [has] something that's going to move an audience."

Cameron stressed the issue of AI in artistic creation should be taken seriously when asked about his openness to the possibility of accepting an AI-produced script.