From the Titan submersible catastrophe of 2023, which he labelled “entirely preventable”, to the hazards of synthetic intelligence – no subject was off limits for legendary Hollywood filmmaker James Cameron as he answered questions from followers at Fremantle’s Passenger Terminal.
Almost 12 years to the day after his record-breaking descent to the deepest, darkest place on Earth — Challenger Deep within the Mariana Trench — Cameron was in Perth reliving that dive and the others he had made to advertise an exhibit at Fremantle’s Maritime Museum.
Delighted friends who snapped up tickets inside hours of their launch earlier this yr virtually didn’t get to see the gifted Canadian, although, because the extremely anticipated occasion was put in jeopardy resulting from climate circumstances.
However, after near 40 hours in transit, Cameron, who had additionally been battling a abdomen bug, made it. It was clear these in attendance held on each phrase from the filmmaker-cum-explorer as he joked and spoke candidly with The West’s personal Ben O’Shea about his love for ocean exploration.
“It’s not about thrill-seeking; it’s about accomplishment,” Cameron stated of his ongoing fascination with the deep. “I like technical challenges, I like hard engineering problems, and I like working with smart people to overcome the odds.”
The go to by Cameron coincided with the launch of an exhibition all about his time in search of solutions about what lays on the ocean mattress utilizing submersible vessels – certainly one of which he designed himself and part-built in secrecy in Sydney.
It’s an space that grew to become of giant public curiosity final yr when the OceanGate submersible generally known as Titan was destroyed throughout its third journey to the Titanic wreck web site.
When requested in regards to the sub, Mr Cameron stated the tragedy was “entirely preventable” and had put a stain on the work of the submersible group, which had a spotless security file earlier than the incident.
“When you go down in a sub, you shouldn’t have to worry about imploding,” Cameron stated.
“That’s the first and foremost principle that you engineer against.
“And one of the tragedies, I think, is that people now think submersible diving is much more dangerous than it really is.”
The man who has been on the forefront of expertise by his work, particularly within the groundbreaking 2009 movie Avatar, stated he was frightened of the way forward for synthetic intelligence.
He stated it was posing an “existential risk” to humanity.
“You’ve got a few greedy people that are making decisions for the future of the human race,” Cameron stated.
“It’s all been relatively benign, and we’ve accepted it, but when you start dealing with something that’s a potential existential risk, it’s unacceptable.
“And when they cry out for regulation to the government, you know, you’re doomed because the government’s not going to be able to keep up with this.
“If it is given the ability to optimize itself by writing its own code and iterating, it will eventually vastly surpass us.
“There’s no way governments can regulate that, and it’s being done by people who are well funded, see huge market advantages, and will just keep doing it.”
Among his journeys under the floor, Cameron made greater than 30 journeys to see the Titanic shipwreck, which impressed his work on the 1997 blockbuster movie that includes Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
Those journeys – and his journey down the Mariana Trench – are the centre of the exhibit.
An array of things from each worlds — his filmmaking and deep-sea diving worlds — have been fastidiously curated to inform these tales.
More than 90 objects and large-scale props are on show, together with the necklace worn by Winslet in Titanic alongside a reproduction of the submersible he designed to take him to the deep.
Speaking of the Titanic, O’Shea launched Cameron to the most recent brainchild of Australian billionaire Clive Palmer, who just lately declared his plans to construct a precise reproduction of the Titanic.
“There’s an Aussie bloke, Clive Palmer… he wants to spend some of his riches building with a working replica of the Titanic that he hopes to have sailing the high seas in 2027,” O’Shea stated. “Would you buy a ticket on a maiden voyage?”
“Frankly, if I had that much money, I’d spend it on science, but that’s just me,” Cameron stated.
Referring to himself as an “explorer at heart, a filmmaker by trade”, Cameron ended the occasion by declaring it was “only a matter of time” earlier than he made a movie in Western Australia, to which he acquired a standing ovation.
James Cameron — Challenging the Deep runs at Fremantle’s Maritime Museum till July 28.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
