James Cameron warns of ‘Terminator-style apocalypse’ if AI weaponised

Humans face three existential threats, from super-intelligence, nuclear weapons and the climate crisis, says blockbuster director as he announces new Hiroshima project

The director James Cameron has warned that the use of artificial intelligence in a global arms race could lead to the kind of dystopia fictionalised in his Terminator franchise.

Speaking to Rolling Stone to promote the publication of Ghosts of Hiroshima, an account of the first atomic bombing by bestselling author Charles Pellegrino which Cameron intends to adapt for the big screen, the film-maker behind three of the four highest-grossing films of all time (Titanic and the first two Avatar films), said that although he relies on AI professionally, he remains concerned about what might happen if it was leveraged with nihilistic intent.