Terminator’ franchise predicted future of AI, says Arnold Schwarzenegger

Veteran star Arnold Schwarzenegger claimed 'The Terminator' franchise, which launched his career in 1984, predicted the future of artificial intelligence

Los Angeles: While AI is currently at the centre of a huge debate in Hollywood, veteran star Arnold Schwarzenegger claimed ‘The Terminator’ franchise, which launched his career in 1984, predicted the future of artificial intelligence.

Speaking at An Evening with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Los Angeles on Wednesday, the actor, 75, praised the franchise’s writer and director James Cameron, People reported.

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“Today, everyone is frightened of it, of where this is gonna go,” Schwarzenegger said of current concerns around AI. “And in this movie, in Terminator, we talk about the machines becoming self-aware and they take over,” he added.

The actor celebrated the “brilliance of writing” in the 1984 sci-fi flick — which he starred in as a cyborg assassin — given that “at that time we (had) scratched the surface of AI, artificial intelligence. Think about that.” “Now over the course of decades, it has become a reality. So it’s not any more fantasy or kind of futuristic. It is here today. And so this is the extraordinary writing of Jim Cameron,” Schwarzenegger continued in the on-stage conversation, which was to promote his limited edition TASCHEN photo book.

Last month, during his cover story interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Schwarzenegger also opened up about working with Cameron on the films and how the filmmaker actually convinced him to say his now iconic line, “I’ll be back.” “Cameron and I were debating how to say the line because I was not comfortable with saying ‘I’ll.’ I said, ‘I think it’s stronger to say, ‘I will be back,'” the actor recalled. He said the director then responded, “Are you the scriptwriter now? It’s just one word. Don’t tell me how to write. I don’t tell you how to act.”… “I said, ‘You tell me how to act every fucking minute! What are you talking about?!'” Schwarzenegger reprised his iconic role of T-800 “Model 101” in ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’, which was released in 2019.

Will there be more ‘Terminator’ films?

The actor in a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter revealed, “The franchise is not done. I’m done. I got the message loud and clear that the world wants to move on with a different theme when it comes to The Terminator.”