Power of Machines

At a time when technology and automation were becoming increasingly important, director James Cameron created a film capable of haunting audiences for years. It is generally well known that machines have increasingly taken over jobs that were formerly held by humans. As machines have become more complex and powerful and have been awarded greater responsibility in society, some fears have arisen that artificial intelligence may someday impact humankind in a negative way. Indeed, this theme lies at the core of many classic science fiction films (for example, Stanley Kubrick's 2001).

The Terminator fictionalizes a possible future outcome of increased human reliance on machines. Although most people do not believe that the Earth could ever face the fate proposed in The Terminator, the film does warn people against becoming too confident in themselves and too dependent on machines.

Free Will

The Terminator investigates the compelling question of whether...