President Joe Biden Saw The Recent 'Mission Impossible' Movie Which Then Caused Him To Sign An Executive Order That Beefed Up Security Measures Concerning Artificial Intelligence
Every now and then I'll watch a movie that motivates me to change my life and/or be a better person. Something like The Pursuit of Happiness will force you to open your eyes. Other times I'll leave a theater and dream about being in a hero moment to save the city. How cool would it be to become Gerard Butler's character in Olympus Has Fallen? Movies inspire us all the time. Very rarely ever leads to anything because I'm just a normal, average person, but it's the thought that counts.
Well, President Biden saw Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One and naturally grew worried about A.I.'s capabilities. He got spooked so badly by 'The Entity' that he signed a whole damn executive order to beef up security measures.
(Variety) President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Monday establishing new standards and security measures regarding artificial intelligence. Deputy White House chief of staff Bruce Reed told the Associated Press (via Time) that AI is an issue of great importance to the president, who was “impressed and alarmed” after seeing “fake AI images of himself” and learning about the “terrifying technology of voice cloning.” According to Reed, Biden’s concern about AI also grew after watching “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” at Camp David.
According to AP, “Biden was profoundly curious about the technology in the months of meetings that led up to drafting the order.” He met with scientists who explained the potential upside of AI, as well as its dangers.
Now before we get carried away and clown on Biden signing an order because of a movie, let's note this isn't the first time a movie has caused a president to make changes to our security. President Reagan famously made changes to our cybersecurity after watching WarGames.
(source) Ronald Reagan, a former Hollywood star, screened WarGames at Camp David the weekend it was released, and it freaked him out. As Slate’s Fred Kaplan described in his book Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War, Reagan brought it up a few day later at a White House meeting that included the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and asked, “Could something like this really happen? Could someone break into our most sensitive computers?” The answer came back a week later: “Mr. President, the problem is much worse than you think.” That led not only to a significant revamp of how computer security was handled at the Defense Department, but also passage of an anti-hacking law that would eventually evolve into our current Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Clips of WarGames were shown during the congressional hearings where lawmakers debated the need for hacking legislation.
But back to Mission Impossible, I honestly don't blame Joe for getting scared by some of the shit he saw. The very first scene you see a nuclear sub get tricked by the A.I. into believing they are being attacked by an enemy. Turns out there's nothing there and once the torpedoes are fired into open water they eventually circle back and destroy their sender.
Throughout the movie the rogue A.I. manipulates a ton of things in dangerous ways including tricking Ethan Hunt's team into believing there was a nuclear bomb in an airport.
Everything that's done by the A.I. seems totally believable and possible based on where we're at in today's world. The deepfake technology available to the public currently is terrifying. Just think what weaponized A.I. could do? Artificial intelligence is bad news bears. We're entering an age where you can basically make it look like a world leader is saying something and trick their enemy into believing a threat is imminent. There's really not much we can do to stop that from happening other than destroying A.I. for good.
So what other movies do we need to make sure Biden has seen? Jurassic Park? Definitely. Please make sure dinosaurs are never cloned. Godzilla? Never do nuclear testing where lizards are living nearby. Terminator? Well if Mission Impossible's A.I. scared him then let's take a darker look at the topic. Now You See Me? Magicians and illusionists must be stopped. That dude Oz? Arrest him at once.
P.S. I wonder if Biden thinks Ilsa is dead or alive. Maybe he'll slip that one in with his next public address.