How Science-Fiction Tropes Shape Military AI

March 30, 2023

(The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists) – The Terminator series of films and other media, for example, began with a sci-fi film about a humanoid killing machine sent back in time by a hostile artificial-intelligence network of the future. For almost 40 years, it has helped shape public perceptions about artificial intelligence gone astray. But it is not only the general public whose perceptions of AI are influenced by pop culture. The US defense bureaucracy also plugs into these stories. References to pop culture can function as “rhetorical repertoires” that defense officials use to explain the stakes, risks, and military uses of AI. (Read More)