8. The Terminator

“With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon”. So says Elon Musk, who has also claimed that AI is humanity’s “biggest existential threat”. He says he’s worried about a “Terminator future”, where robots become smarter than humans and decide to destroy us. Paradoxically, Musk is also working to create artificial intelligence. What explains this? Science fiction has been imagining robot rebellions for over a century: Jill Lepore says these stories are never really only about robots. So what’s Elon Musk really afraid of when he’s afraid of AI? In this final episode, Lepore argues that while Musk may be a visionary, “every piece of Muskism has origins in a future foretold in science fiction, long, long ago, as a cautionary tale.”

Jill Lepore is the Kemper Professor of American History at Harvard University and Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She’s also a staff writer at The New Yorker and an acclaimed author.

Series Producer: Viv Jones
Researchers: Simon Leek
Editors: Richard Vadon
Sound design and mix: James Beard
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Original music by Corntuth
Production Coordinators: Jack Young, Maria Ogundele

CREDITS: Musk interviewed on PBS