The Terminator franchise may have started as a sci-fi action spectacle with Schwarzenegger, but it became truly culturally relevant.
At least for the first two installments, let’s not delve into the rest.
Like true sci-fi works, this series also predicted something immensely important for humanity.
The most pressing issues on our planet currently include global poverty, war conflicts caused by neoliberal capitalism, global climate catastrophe (and the resulting further impoverishment), concentration of capital (leading to fascism and more impoverishment), and ultimately, nuclear apocalypse.
However, the latter isn’t only dangerous and tragic when world leaders have pressed the launch buttons. The accompanying political threats and vulnerabilities, the waste of enormous resources on the development and maintenance of nuclear arsenals, and the fear that becomes ingrained in people’s everyday lives all serve as the starting point for further problems.
The cornerstone of the Terminator series is humanity’s future nuclear apocalypse caused by the awakening of the Skynet military defense system’s artificial intelligence, which destroys known civilization. In the film, this event took place on August 29, 1997, a date fortunately we have survived.
The tragedy is that humanity, mainly our political leaders, completely ignored three crucial warnings from the Terminator series.
- Nuclear Holocaust
In the late 80s and early 90s, we couldn’t dismiss these movies as mere fiction. By that time, the nuclear arsenal capable of annihilating our planet was already in existence. It’s not only superpowers that possess nuclear arsenals; NATO stores weapons suitable for atomic strikes across numerous points in Europe, along with fighter-bombers and bombers intended for their deployment. The problem isn’t just when deranged politicians eventually use these weapons: they could fall into other wrong hands, technical errors and accidents could occur, and the apocalypse envisioned in Terminator, controlled by software, could happen.
However, various aspects of the fiction have since become reality.
- Killer Machines
Throughout wars, humans have killed. In most cases, not with their bare hands. Initially with tools, then with instruments, and later with weapons of mass destruction, culminating in atomic bombs, as seen in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In decisions and processes of killing, humans have always been behind the tools, triggers, and bomb releases.
This situation has now changed. Drones have emerged, where it’s not a human directly behind them, but pulling the trigger occurs through a channel. There’s no longer a pilot risking their own life in the cockpit; the controller could be comfortably situated in a military center on the other side of the world. Even more serious is the ongoing transition to a system where the drone itself, rather than a human, decides whether to fire.
- Robots
Robotic technology has progressed enormously since the Terminator series first appeared on screen. From walking toy dogs, we’ve arrived at humanoid robots capable of human-like movement – running, jumping, climbing, and almost performing all human physical activities.
Even more concerning is the fact that there have been instances of such robots being armed with weapons and firing shots. The specter of Terminator has become a reality.
- Artificial Intelligence
What was required for the apocalyptic scenario outlined in Terminator? The nuclear arsenal annihilated human civilization and a large portion of humanity, followed by killer robots hunting down survivors. And the trigger for all of this was none other than an all-encompassing military software that gained self-awareness. Essentially, an artificial intelligence similar to what is now being highlighted by serious scientific experts. Chat programs driven by artificial intelligence are flooding the internet – developed by multiple competitors. This is still in its infancy, but it already poses a threat, for instance in education, where programs can easily generate homework and even theses on behalf of students.
If the development of artificial intelligence continues without scientific and ethical controls, similar to the path of nuclear weapons (the most powerful detonated atomic bomb was 1570 times stronger than the Hiroshima bomb), humanity is in serious trouble.
Essentially, we are now only separated from the hell envisioned by Terminator by an awakening malevolent artificial intelligence. This is as much science fiction today as many crucial points of Terminator were in the early 90s. Unfortunately, our politicians remain as reckless and unethical as they were during the Cold War arms race.