Putting their faith in the hands of a sentient computer system didn’t go so well for humans in the world of James Cameron‘s Terminator movies: Skynet came to see all mankind as a threat and tried to exterminate it by setting off a nuclear exchange.

In real life, with the rise of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tech, he’s here to say he told you so.

“I warned you guys in 1984, and you didn’t listen,” the Canadian Oscar winner joked to CTV on Tuesday, July 18.

“I think the weaponization of AI is the biggest danger,” the Titanic and Avatar director said.

“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,” he argued.

“You could imagine an AI in a combat theater, the whole thing just being fought by the computers at a speed humans can no longer intercede, and you have no ability to deescalate.”

That said, on a lighthearted note, Cameron said he wouldn’t be open to directing a movie written by AI — “unless they were really good, you know,” he smiled. “You know, let’s wait 20 years, and if an AI wins an Oscar for Best Screenplay, I think we’ve gotta take them seriously.”

He did say that he feels humanity is key to moving an audience with a script, however.

Incidentally, the Ontario native was honored Tuesday by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society for his tireless ocean exploration and his environmental conservationism.

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