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What just happened? James Cameron, the director of Terminator and many other Hollywood blockbusters, has joined the board of AI company Stability AI. It's a somewhat surprising move, given that Cameron has warned of the dangers to humanity posed by artificial intelligence. It will also be interesting to see the response from the actors' union, which has protested against the use of generative AI in movies and TV.
Stability AI, creator of the Stable Diffusion text-to-image models, announced Cameron's addition to the board of directors in a post.
"James Cameron lives in the future and waits for the rest of us to catch up," said CEO Prem Akkaraju. "Stability AI's mission is to transform visual media for the next century by giving creators a full stack AI pipeline to bring their ideas to life. We have an unmatched advantage to achieve this goal with a technological and creative visionary like James at the highest levels of our company."
It does appear somewhat ironic that Cameron is joining a generative AI company, even if it is a visually-focused firm as opposed to, say, OpenAI. The Terminator's rogue AI Skynet is regularly cited as a fictional example of what could happen if humanity were to lose control of a powerful artificial intelligence.
In a 2023 interview with CTV, Cameron referenced The Terminator when asked about the potential dangers of AI. "I warned you guys in 1984 [The Terminator's release year], and you didn't listen," he said. "I think the weaponization of AI is the biggest danger. 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."
Cameron has also spoken about the danger of a Skynet-like system using deepfakes to pit people against each other and ultimately wiping out humanity.
But it seems the director has softened his stance on AI, and is emphasizing how it can be used for film visuals. "I've spent my career seeking out emerging technologies that push the very boundaries of what's possible, all in the service of telling incredible stories. I was at the forefront of CGI over three decades ago, and I've stayed on the cutting edge since," he said.
"Now, the intersection of generative AI and CGI image creation is the next wave. The convergence of these two totally different engines of creation will unlock new ways for artists to tell stories in ways we could have never imagined. Stability AI is poised to lead this transformation. I'm delighted to collaborate with Sean, Prem, and the Stability AI team as they shape the future of all visual media."
Like virtually every other generative AI company, Stability AI is facing a class-action lawsuit over allegations it trained its AI models on copyrighted material. It is also dealing with the departure of founder and former CEO Emad Mostaque, who resigned in March, along with three key engineers.
Cameron's appointment comes in the middle of a strike by the Screen Actors Guild over the use of generative AI in video games. Generative AI has been a hot-button topic in the industry, and was one of the big factors behind last year's SAG-AFTRA strike.
Cameron joining the Stability AI board is being hailed as a game-changing move by several AI fans, who see it as the movie industry further embracing the technology. However, plenty of others have criticized Cameron, claiming he is ignoring his own warnings and that his motivations are purely financial.