Gareth Edwards’s THE CREATOR ‘Humans vs AI’ Trailer Parallels World Concerns

By Michelle McCue | May 17, 2023

In a recent Reuters story from May 17, it was reported:

The swift growth of artificial intelligence technology could put the future of humanity at risk, according to most Americans surveyed in a Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Wednesday.

More than two-thirds of Americans are concerned about the negative effects of AI and 61% believe it could threaten civilization.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/ai-threatens-humanitys-future-61-americans-say-reutersipsos-2023-05-17/

Today, 20th Century Studios, New Regency and Entertainment One have released a trailer and poster for their epic sci-fi action thriller “The Creator,” which opens in theaters September 29.

Amidst a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, Joshua (Washington), a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife (Chan), is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war… and mankind itself. Joshua and his team of elite operatives journey across enemy lines, into the dark heart of AI-occupied territory… only to discover the world-ending weapon he’s been instructed to destroy is an AI in the form of a young child.

Directed by Gareth Edwards (“Rogue One,” “Godzilla”), the film stars John David Washington (“Tenet”), Gemma Chan (“Eternals”), Ken Watanabe (“Inception”), Sturgill Simpson (“Dog”), newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles and Academy Award® winner Allison Janney (“I, Tonya”).

“Ten years ago today, the artificial intelligence created to protect us detonated a nuclear warhead in Los Angeles.” This nightmarish sentence and the eerie timing of the release of this trailer also coincides with the global concerns over AI.

The CEO of OpenAI, the startup behind ChatGPT, told a Senate panel on Tuesday:

“I think if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong.”

https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-chief-goes-before-us-congress-propose-licenses-building-ai-2023-05-16/

U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire, questioned the government’s role in the use of artificial intelligence in a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Hassan spoke about the importance of developing a national strategy to prevent AI from being used in a way that’s harmful to the public.

“My worst fears is that we cause significant harm to the world,” Altman said.

https://www.wmur.com/article/hassan-national-strategy-artificial-intelligence/43910090

If any of this story’s premise sounds familiar, check out THE TERMINATOR and T2 where AI (Skynet and Cyberdine) took over. “In the original 1984 movie, Skynet is a revolutionary artificial intelligence system built by Cyberdyne Systems for SAC-NORAD. The character Kyle Reese explains in the film: “Defense network computers. New… powerful… hooked into everything, trusted to run it all. They say it got smart, a new order of intelligence”. According to Reese, Skynet “saw all humans as a threat; not just the ones on the other side” and “decided our fate in a microsecond: extermination”. It began a nuclear war which destroyed most of the human population, and initiated a program of genocide against survivors. Skynet used its resources to gather a slave labor force from surviving humans.

For those of you who love sci-fi dystopian films, the phrase  “THERE IS ANOTHER SYSTEM” is a chilling and foreboding line from COLOSSUS: FORBIN PROJECT. The film is about an advanced American defense system, named Colossus, along with its Russian counterpart, Guardian, becoming sentient. After being handed full control, Colossus’ draconian logic expands on its original nuclear defense directives to assume total control of the world and end all warfare for the good of humankind, despite its creators’ orders to stop.

THE CREATOR’s screenplay is by Gareth Edwards and Chris Weitz, from a story by Edwards. The producers are Gareth Edwards, p.g.a., Kiri Hart, Jim Spencer, p.g.a. and Arnon Milchan. The executive producers are Yariv Milchan, Michael Schaefer, Natalie Lehmann, Nick Meyer and Zev Foreman.

THE CREATOR opens in theaters September 29.