Terminator Producer Gale Anne Hurd Sounds Alarm About ‘AI Apocalypse’

When the producer of The Terminator worries about an AI apocalypse, perhaps it’s time to take note: Gale Anne Hurd took to X, formerly Twitter, to share a report on the dangers of artificial intelligence.

“The top minds in the #AI field were consulted for this study… and it’s fairly alarming,” she wrote.

She linked to a news story about the possibility of “AI apocalypse,” citing a new report by the company Gladstone AI. It’s worth noting that the company, in introducing its findings, doesn’t use dark phrases like “AI apocalypse,” and keeps things pretty dry and calm. It defines its mission as promoting “the responsible development and adoption of AI by providing safeguards against AI-driven national security threats, such as weaponization and loss of control.”

Of course, when you read those last words, your mind may wander to phrases like “AI apocalypse.” If “weaponization and loss of control” sounds familiar, you’re probably thinking of the Terminator movies, in which a rogue A.I. called Skynet launches a nuclear attack known in the movies as “Judgment Day” and then begins hunting down humans with T-800 Terminator robots who look a lot like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Also Read: 10 Behind the Scenes Stories of The Terminator

Gladstone AI explains in introducing its report that “in October 2022, a month before ChatGPT was released, the U.S. State Department commissioned an assessment of proliferation and security risk from weaponized and misaligned AI. In February 2024, Gladstone completed that assessment. It includes an analysis of catastrophic AI risks, and a first-of-its-kind, government-wide Action Plan for what we can do about them.”

Gladstone notes that its suggestions “do not reflect the views of the United States Department of State or the United States Government.” It recommends that the government begin by “establishing interim safeguards to stabilize advanced AI development,” develop “export controls on the advanced AI supply chain” and creating a new U.S. regulatory agency, among other suggestions.

The company is also understandably trying to get the word out about its findings, including via press release, and having Gale Anne Hurd share its findings must be helpful in that regard.

Gale Anne Hurd Has Thought a Lot About an AI Apocalypse or Zombie Apocalypse

Like many film luminaries, Hurd started off working for the great B-movie mastermind Roger Corman. She then established her own production company, Pacific Western Productions, in 1982. She quickly saw the potential in a young director named James Cameron, and went on to produce and co-write 1984’s The Terminator, then to produce more of his films, including Aliens (1986) and The Abyss (1986).

Her many other production credits include additional Terminator projects, as well as The Walking Dead and several spinoffs. So she knows plenty about zombie apocalypses, too.

Here is her original tweet:

Main image: Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.