The new Mission: Impossible movie plays on everyone's fears about AI
What if artificial intelligence surpassed humans and went on to rule the world? Would we start begging AI to spare our lives? These are some of the questions that linger in viewers’ minds after watching the latest edition of the Mission: Impossible series, Dead Reckoning Part One, released on July 10. The movie’s early popularity helped star Tom Cruise shatter a Rotten Tomatoes record. It also scores points for its timely portrayal of the potential dangers of AI, which is provoking deep anxieties in real life. In Dead Reckoning, an all-conquering AI tool named “The Entity” goes rogue. Impenetrable by any human technology or weapon, it can scrub live video feeds, impersonate voices, crack identity security codes—even those using fingerprints—and orchestrate large-scale mayhem. Not surprisingly, governments yearn to possess it, to make themselves more powerful. Even as AI designers keep warning of its risks, with some saying that AI models can learn skills they weren’t trained for, Missi