December 17th, 2014
All But Terminated: Artificial Intelligence’s Role in Society According to Terminator 2
A certain breed of Artificial Intelligence movies has focused on the anthropomorphized cyborg, beginning with early 1980’s films such as The Terminator and Blade Runner to 21st century box office hits like I, Robot. Interestingly, each movie shares a common dystopian thread manifesting society’s lurking subconscious fear of self-destruction. This fear of AI, however, is not just isolated to the worries of common man. Even Elon Musk, a tech billionaire whose innovative work dominates news headlines, has shown apprehension towards the adoption of AI, calling it “our greatest existential threat” and encouraging international regulations to avoid, as he says “doing something very foolish” (One on One with Elon Musk MIT AeroAstro Centennial Symposium). With knowledge of how pervasive our collective fear of AI is, it should come as no surprise that Hollywood has produced an entire subgenre on the topic. Terminator 2 (T2), however, runs a little deeper than your typical apocalyptic prediction of how society is actively initiating its own demise. Throughout T2 James Cameron takes us on a journey, which at times seems to align with these ubiquitous doomsday predictions, but emerges having told the story of an Artificially Intelligent individual who defies this mold, making a case for the extension of personhood rights to certain machines and inspiring hope for a future symbiotic relationship between technology and man.
Historically, machines have been designed to systematically perform a function and robots, by extension, have not evolved to being much more than a human façade over the same rigid internals. While this trend is apparent at the start of the film, it shifts as the Terminator evolves to convey Cameron’s deeper message.
The film begins with all attention focusing on a T-800 model Terminator, who from the audience’s point of view, may just be the rebirth of the monster they just saw defeated at the close of T1. Unaware of the machines intentions, we follow it around Los Angeles until it reaches a biker bar. Upon entering, the Terminator analyzes the patrons for somebody of a similar size, and states to the patron “I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle” (Terminator 2: Judgement Day), never wavering in his tone or facial expression. As the Terminator silently stands there awaiting a response, the biker, noticeably irritated by the Terminator’s demands and presumptuous nature, inserts a lit cigar into the Terminator’s bare chest. A moment passes by before the Terminator even notices the cigar, and not the slightest reaction of pain was visible on his vacant face. The Terminator, now aware of the hostile environment around him, resorts to conditioned violence, disposing of anyone in the bar willing fight, before finally acquiring the biker’s aforementioned clothes, boots, and motorcycle. With its objective met, the Terminator stoically rides away from the bar with its next mission in mind.
As the Terminator rides away from this rather strange encounter, it becomes clear that the current representation of the Terminator is rather lifeless. With the exception of it inhabiting a human body, nothing about this scene would bring a viewer to the conclusion that this being, especially with knowledge of what it did in the past film, is human. In fact, in an article written by Dylan Evans, he states that “the capacity for emotion is often considered to be one of the main differences between humans and machines” (Evans). Judging from this piece of criteria, we can see that Cameron’s current depiction of the Terminator is of just that - a machine robotically carrying out instructions and terminating all present threats. At this point in the film, virtually no transformation has occurred within the Terminator character as it is at its most synthetic with regards to behavior and lack of emotion. This, however, changes as the Terminator is subjected to more complicated social interactions.
Later in the film, the Terminator reveals his purpose for coming to Los Angeles, in what develops to be one of the more complicated social interactions previously referenced, when he explained to John, “My mission is to protect you” (Terminator 2: Judgement Day). John, incredulous of the Terminator’s promise, put him through a series of tests to assess his loyalty and intentions. Upon learning that the Terminator was being genuine about his promise, John exclaimed “Cool! My own Terminator. This is great!” (Terminator 2: Judgement Day) John, overcome with excitement at the notion of possessing his own personal body guard, quickly put his newfound situation to the test by harassing a pair of bystanders from across the parking lot. The situation quickly escalated and a brawl ensued between the Terminator and the bystanders, culminating with the Terminator standing over one of the bystanders, .45 pistol in hand ready to pull the trigger. John yells and pleas for the Terminator to lower his weapon, puzzling him as to why John insists on preventing him from doing his job. After diffusing the situation John exclaimed that he “can’t just go around killing people!” (Terminator 2: Judgement Day) The Terminator, learning from John, accepts the advice and sticks to it for the remainder of the film.
This scene is especially pivotal from the standpoint of the Terminator’s transformation from an artificially intelligent machine towards a functioning member of society. Upon examining this scene, the audience becomes aware of the learning potential of Terminators. Not unlike the way that children’s morality is conditioned through trial-and-error, the Terminator also learns the bounds of what is accepted by society by first overstepping them and then committing the new morals to memory. This scene showcases the Terminator’s ability to adapt to one of the most basic building blocks of civility – learning what is right and wrong. This understanding of societal ethics is one of the major hurdles between classification as an artificially intelligent machine and as a person. In his article “Legal Personhood for Artificial Intelligences” Lawrence Solum details an opposing point of view: “do not punish the program, because any supposed ‘punishment’ will have no educative effect” (Solum). This, however, would be untrue as evidenced by the Terminator’s actions in this scene. For instance, there is a very clear educative effect at play (in a highly intelligent being like a Terminator) which is visible when the Terminator re-calibrates his moral compass instantaneously to account for its environment. I would also disagree with Solum’s point because of its assumption that any form of punishment would be necessary. Once again we see in this scene that so long as the Terminator wishes to adapt, it will do so flawlessly and instantly. Comparing this with humans who typically waste away in jail “learning their lesson”, we see that Terminators are far superior to humans when it comes to understanding, adhering to, and developing an ethical code of conduct. With this scene demonstrating the Terminator’s moral capabilities, the Terminator is now only emotionally removed from passing as what we would recognize as a normal person.
Cameron finalizes the transformation by fulfilling the emotional requirement when Sarah, John and the Terminator are attempting to flee the T-1000 model Terminator who has been programmed to kill John. While gathering guns at Sarah’s friend Enrique’s house, a rather poignant and touching moment is shared between John and the Terminator. John, who has been connecting with the Terminator ever since it stated “My CPU is a neural-net processor - a learning computer. The more contact I have with humans, the more I learn” (Terminator 2: Judgement Day), is now teaching the Terminator what a high five is. During this process, John tricks the Terminator with a classic “down low, too slow” progression which actually evokes the first genuine expression of emotion from the Terminator: annoyance in the form of a mild snarl. Not only does this show how much John has gotten through to the Terminator since starting bonding with him, Sarah, who is watching the whole scene transpire, also has a take on the situation. In the form of an internal monologue, Sarah states:
Watching John with the machine, it was suddenly so clear. The Terminator would never stop, it would never leave him... it would always be there. And it would never hurt him, never shout at him or get drunk and hit him, or say it couldn't spend time with him because it was too busy. And it would die to protect him. Of all the would-be fathers who came and went over the years, this thing, this machine, was the only one who measured up. In an insane world, it was the sanest choice. (Terminator 2: Judgement Day)
In the article “Terminating the Father: Technology, Paternity, and Patriarchy in Terminator 2” Anne-Marie Harvey reflects on this scene by stating “Sarah’s declaration crystallizes the general sense of the movie: that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator appears to fill the place of a conspicuously absent father” (Harvey). The simple fact that the Terminator is now filling the domestic role of father, something that Sarah cites that all the men who had previously tried had failed, is the exclamation point to the Terminator’s transformation from purely objective cyborg to functional member of society.
This transformation that Cameron details symbolizes the progression he believes we as a society are preparing to undergo. As of the moment, our most personable and realistic robots closely resemble the character Schwarzenegger portrayed at the start of the film. Cameron, however, realizes that this transition will not be as easily accepted by society as Sarah and John’s reception was. This clash over future ideals is symbolized by the conflict between the T-800 model Terminator (Schwarzenegger) and the T-1000 model Terminator as they fight to eliminate each other and the future reality each one represents.
The T-1000 model Terminator represents a future in which the human race has ceased to exist by creating beings more powerful than itself, implanted with a desire to dominate their human creators. The Terminator which represents this future is described by Bodley in his article as “[personifying] the ‘mindless’ killer, who kills without remorse” and adds that “this Terminator is not even able to meet some of the basic requirements for sentience, such as independent thought and expression of emotional reactions and/or desires beyond his programming” (Bodley). This is very much the stereotypical classification attributed to artificially intelligent robots in cinema, and easily the most feared. This one potential future is juxtaposed by another with Cameron’s development of the T-800 character who, even though is a machine like the T-1000, embodies a relatable, less threatening and much more desirable individual. This conflict between the two Terminators ends, admittedly in a symbolic fashion, as the T-1000 is blasted open with a grenade launcher and thrust backwards into a pit of molten steel. As the T-1000 wrings and screams in distress we realize the fate that it, and the perception that AI will be the downfall of society, are destined to go unrealized.
Cameron’s portrayal of AI in the future differs from most movies on the topic and is certainly more optimistic. This optimism is critical in our understanding of the movie and without our full grasp and analysis of the message, the same rampant paranoia present today will continue to run wild and impede progress. As some continue to fight the future, it is imperative we keep an open mind for all situations that the future will present.
Works Cited
Bodley, Antonie. Assigned Personhood and Artificial Intelligent Minds. Proc. of 11th
International Conference on Persons, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 1-10.
Evans, Dylan. "Chapter 5." Emotion: The Science of Sentiment. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.
Harvey, Anne-Marie. "Terminating the Father: Technology, Paternity, and Patriarchy in
Terminator 2." Masculinities. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. Berkeley, California, 1995. 25-42. Print.
One on One with Elon Musk MIT AeroAstro Centennial Symposium. Perf. Elon Musk. N.p., 26
Oct. 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
Solum, Lawrence. "Legal Personhood for Artificial Intelligences." Trans. Array North Carolina
Law Review. Vol. 70. Raleigh: 1992. 1231-1290. Print.
Terminator 2 : Judgement Day. [United States] : Artisan Entertainment, 1991., 1991. DVD.
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