What have you done with AI?

I’ve seen all the Terminator movies. I know how it ends. If you have never seen the movies, they are essentially about Arnold Schwarzenegger and AI gone rogue, determined to “terminate” humanity. But don’t take my word for it.

Try this summary:

Terminator movies are basically a never-ending time-traveling robot soap opera. Arnold Schwarzenegger keeps showing up as a cyborg, either to kill or protect Sarah Connor (and her descendants), but always manages to destroy half of California in the process. Each movie’s plot is: “Hey, remember that robot we blew up last time? Well, there’s another one—and this time, it’s even more relentless and fashion-challenged!” The whole franchise is just people and robots yelling “I’ll be back!” while dodging explosions and awkward family reunions.¹

Or how about this summary?

In a nutshell, The Terminator movies are about time-traveling robots trying to cancel the future one bad decision at a time. It all kicks off when Skynet, a cranky AI with commitment issues, sends a robot assassin (Arnold Schwarzenegger, the friendliest killing machine ever) back in time to eliminate the mother of the guy who will one day wreck its evil robot party. Cue a never-ending game of time-travel tag, where timelines get rebooted more often than a crashed PC. As sequels roll in, Arnold keeps switching sides—first bad, then good, then really good, then old but still good—while humanity just tries to keep track of whether Judgment Day is Tuesday or got delayed again. By the end, even the machines seem confused, wondering if they’re supposed to destroy humanity or just give us a stern talking-to.²

Both of the above were generated by AI with the prompt, “Summarize the all the Terminator movies in a paragraph. Be funny.” The first was from Perplexity, and the second was from ChatGPT.

Here’s one from Twitter/X’s Grok:

The Terminator franchise is a wild ride of time-traveling robots, sweaty Schwarzenegger one-liners, and humanity’s knack for almost getting wiped out by grumpy AI. It all kicks off with a cyborg assassin (Arnie’s T-800) sent back to 1984 to squash Sarah Connor before she births humanity’s savior, John. Spoiler: he fails, thanks to a scrappy soldier and some serious '80s hair. In T2, Arnie flips to Team Good Guy, protecting teen John from a liquid-metal jerk who’s way too into shapeshifting. Fast-forward through a few sequels, and we’ve got more Connors, more Terminators, and more convoluted timelines than a soap opera on fast-forward—T3 brings a lady Terminator, Salvation tries a gritty war vibe, Genisys mangles the timeline with alt-universe shenanigans, and Dark Fate says, “Let’s pretend some of those didn’t happen.” Through it all, Skynet’s like that clingy ex who keeps trying to end the world, while Arnie’s iconic “I’ll be back” becomes the ultimate catchphrase for robots who just won’t quit. It’s a chaotic, explode-y soap opera with more metal than a heavy metal concert!

AI has developed leaps and bounds in the past year. Particularly in the past six months, there seems to have been a cultural tipping point. While schools grapple with students misusing AI for assignments, even grandparents are using AI now. Uses range from complex creations, editing, to video and image generation.

How have I used AI?

I have used AI primarily for entertainment in the past six months. Our family group chat uploaded this picture and asked ChatGPT to roast us.

The results?

1. Captain Dad: You’ve got the hat, the smile, and the energy of a man who just explained how to properly load the dishwasher for the 10th time this week. That “Captain” hat? Pretty sure the only thing you’re captaining is the remote control when the game’s on.

2. Grandma Glam in Fuchsia: Ma’am, you are serving “silver fox realness,” but we all know you didn’t let the family leave the house until everyone matched your vision board. You’re not just the glue of the family—you’re the glitter glue with rhinestones.

3. Green Jumpsuit Queen: You look like you just finished filming a sustainable fashion ad and came straight to the family photo. Giving “cool aunt who has a side hustle selling matcha-based skincare.”

4. Beige Shirt Bro-in-Law: That tucked-in tee and precise grooming says “I do my taxes early.” You’ve got the aura of a guy who claps when the plane lands and gives TED Talks unprompted at dinner.

5. Mustard Skirt Mom: You’re the one with 3 Pinterest boards per holiday and you absolutely made everyone coordinate outfits for this shoot. You also look like you say “just one more picture” with Olympic-level sincerity. Your camera roll is 98% baby, 2% screenshots of toddler lunch ideas.

6. Big Brother in the Polo: You give off serious “fun uncle who once lost a toddler at the zoo” vibes. That stripe across your chest looks like the Wi-Fi signal of your attention span during group photos. Still lovable, still late to everything.

7. The Baby: Let’s be real—this baby looks like he’s the CEO of the entire family. Holding court with those judgmental eyes and giving side-eye sharper than any adult at the table. He knows he’s cute. He also knows you’ll fold faster than a lawn chair when he screams.

This group is less “family portrait” and more “sitcom intro where everyone freezes and their name pops up in neon.” Honestly, I’d watch.

Just the right amount of snark? Right? 😂

I also used it to turn Carolyn and me into Archie Comics figures:

Not completely satisfied with the attire of the Archie image, I instructed ChatGPT to “put us in trendy clothes,” and voila:

Of course, I had to create an action figure of myself after seeing everyone else do it. Results were mixed. I could never get the face looking like me.

Recently, I’ve begun being “schooled” in some of the more amazing, productive and helpful uses of AI. I’ve used it to help write a recommendation letter. I’ve uploaded sermons that I’ve written and asked it to generate open-ended discussion questions (with mixed, but decent results). I’ve done research with it (“Tell me the history of Istanbul.”).

You’ve probably heard of deepfake videos. They are nearly indistinguishable form the real thing. One amazing/disturbing example was this one of Morgan Freeman last year:³

In the past year, vast improvements in AI have led to its growing adoption by normies. While students and educators have been hyped up on AI (and conflicted by it), the public has watched with curiosity and interest from the sidelines for the most part. But when Google, Apple, ChatGPT and other models offering free services, its adoption level has become like the proverbial ball rolling downhill.

What does AI have to say for itself? Just ask ChatGPT:

“In short, AI became prevalent because it crossed a usability threshold: it got good enough, cheap enough, and accessible enough to go mainstream.”

What this means for the rest of us, is, well, chaos. With stunning examples of deepfake videos, how will we know what is real? Things go viral exponentially quicker than ever, and one deepfake of Trump, Tom Cruise or a celeb could threaten social cohesion or national cohesion.

The mantra of “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” may apply well to AI. However, with the cat being out of the bag, the rest of us - and our organizations, churches, and companies- are left to play catch up. We must all think deeply about ethics, righteousness and integrity when it comes to AI use.

One sobering reality is that AI is not neutral. It depends on the hands/code that feed it. There are a plethora of examples that show that many AI responses are left-leaning politically, which may indicate not just “artificial” but even a lack of intelligence.

As for me, I am preparing for the worst and have Arnold on speed dial.

1. Answer from Perplexity

2. Answer from ChatGPT.

3. A helpful read on the dangers of fraud and misuse of AI is found at Top 10 Examples of Deepfake Across The Internet (Hyperverge: March 2025)