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“That’s a scarier scenario than what I presented in ‘The Terminator’ 40 years ago, if for no other reason than it’s no longer science fiction. It’s happening.”
Cameron said that while he’s “bullish on AI,” he’s “not so keen on AGI because AGI will just be a mirror of us.”
“Good to the extent that we are good, and evil to the extent that we are evil,” he said. “Since there is no shortage of evil in the human world, and certainly no agreement of even what good is, what could possibly go wrong?”
Although Cameron rose to fame as a Hollywood director, he’s also known for his tech ventures. He co-founded the visual effects studio Digital Domain in 1993. Cameron has gone on to incorporate advanced technology in his films, including the “Avatar” franchise.
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Cameron has shared his thoughts about artificial intelligence’s potential impact on society and filmmaking several times. During an appearance on the Netflix series “What’s Next? The Future with Bill Gates,” Cameron told the Microsoft cofounder that it’s getting harder to write science fiction as AI progresses.
“It’s getting hard to write science fiction. Any idea I have today is a minimum of three years from the screen. How am I going to be relevant in three years when things are changing so rapidly?” he told Gates.
Cameron also told Gates he’s concerned people are putting more faith in machines and less into their sense of purpose.
“I think we’re going to get to a point where we’re putting our faith more and more and more in the machines without humans in the loop, and that can be problematic,” he said. “As we take people out of the loop, what are we replacing their sense of purpose and meaning with?”
However, Cameron has continued to embed himself in the AI and technology industry.
Stability AI, a generative AI company, announced that Cameron joined its board of directors in September.
“James Cameron lives in the future and waits for the rest of us to catch up,” the company’s CEO said in a press release.