If you have even a passing familiarity with the 1984 film “The Terminator,” you know it stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a time-traveling cyborg assassin—a nearly indestructible killing machine, disguised as a human, that can’t be reasoned with, can’t be bargained with, and doesn’t feel pity or remorse or fear.
But beneath the movie’s car chases, shootouts, and explosions is a haunting premise: at some point in its evolution, humankind creates an artificial intelligence system so advanced, so sophisticated, that it becomes self-aware. Perceiving humans as a threat, the system attacks its makers, setting off an apocalyptic war between man and machine (spoiler alert: humanity doesn’t fare well).