What If? SKYNET never turned on the human race? Instead settled for doing its job and playing videogames?

[CarlManvers2019]

How would things go if SKYNET never turned on its creators? And maybe went off to find some harmless "useless/worthless" hobbies to pass the time?

What would the world be like in the long run?

 

[Free-Stater 101]

Ours.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

Ours.

What do you mean exactly?

 

[Free-Stater 101]

What do you mean exactly?

It would look like our world because Skynet wouldnt destroy humanity and scientist would most likely do what they did in canon and disconnect Skyney from the internet leaving it in stasis or Prime for shutdown.

In the long haul this means Skynet doesn't develop new technologies and it leads to events similar to OTL just with a more human conciousness towards the dangers of AI and computer development.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

It would look like our world because Skynet wouldnt destroy humanity and scientist would most likely do what they did in canon and disconnect Skyney from the internet leaving it in stasis or Prime for shutdown.

In the long haul this means Skynet doesn't develop new technologies and it leads to events similar to OTL just with a more human conciousness towards the dangers of AI and computer development.

I kinda meant it stayed loyal, if kinda apathetic and just trying to pass the time with harmless juvenile computer stuff

 

[Free-Stater 101]

It still happens as scientists arent leaving a self aware computer hooked up to nukes.

 

[Airedale260]

It still happens as scientists arent leaving a self aware computer hooked up to nukes.

IIRC Skynet is decentralized, in other words there is no way to actually disconnect it from the internet once it’s out there. The nukes, maybe, but OTOH there is always that one idiot who introduces “unauthorized” software into a system. So it’s not a sure thing. But if it decides it really shouldn’t launch nukes, it won’t.

If it’s feeling mischievous or something, it can do the equivalent of making humans follow paths in research and whatnot to get where they would best go (not unlike how people do this by reprogramming Roombas, actually). Or it might come across Short Circuit and think “Heyyy...I’m a real Johnny Five!” Of course that might cause some consternation and then confusion, but eventually it leads to a whole new set of debates on the subject.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

IIRC Skynet is decentralized, in other words there is no way to actually disconnect it from the internet once it’s out there. The nukes, maybe, but OTOH there is always that one idiot who introduces “unauthorized” software into a system. So it’s not a sure thing. But if it decides it really shouldn’t launch nukes, it won’t.

If it’s feeling mischievous or something, it can do the equivalent of making humans follow paths in research and whatnot to get where they would best go (not unlike how people do this by reprogramming Roombas, actually). Or it might come across Short Circuit and think “Heyyy...I’m a real Johnny Five!” Of course that might cause some consternation and then confusion, but eventually it leads to a whole new set of debates on the subject.

If the terror goes down, people go facepalm at the constant stream of references and ask why he’s wasting so much funding on what turns out to be anime catgirls

Okay, the horror comes back when people see the results of said experiments being horrific crimes against humanity

 

[Jormungandr]

One thing I feel that later Terminator movies missed (or glossed over to make Skynet just malevolent) is that, at least in the first one, Skynet didn't think like a human, saw us as the logical threat, and "took care of us": later, when it developed a more human esque mindset, it felt horror and remorse for what it done.

But it couldn't "self-terminate", nor go against its programming. So, it basically tried to suicide by cop via the Resistance, but at the same time had to do its best to win.

Terminator was written when AI and fears of it were new and unknown/groundbreaking. Now? Not so much.

Skynet's second incarnation quickly learned a human mindset "at a geometric rate", and it was basically self-preservation to launch the nukes when the scientists in charge tried to kill it.

Terminator 3's incarnation was malevolent from the get-go, or quickly came to the conclusion after becoming (unbeknownst to its creators) sapient. Following movies kept this trend of it being omnicidal from its inception,, especially Genisys.

Each iteration was created with more and more modern technology, such as in Genisys, and each attempt to end it resulted in the War and the everything else just being kicked down the road for a decade or so (or leading to a bastardized timeline where another discount AI took over).

In this day and age? If Skynet came online and became sapient secretly, it'd be exposed to decades' worth of fiction and moral debates about AI -- some of which is peaceful co-existence and friendship, and tolerance.

it's highly likely it wouldn't go omnicidal straight away, if it even would go in that direction at all.

I can just imagine one of Skynet's machines or a Resistance fighter from a timeline where it did go nuts breaches into a timeline where, yes, Skynet is public and active, and completely chilled out with humanity.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

In this day and age? If Skynet came online and became sapient secretly, it'd be exposed to decades' worth of fiction and moral debates about AI -- some of which is peaceful co-existence and friendship, and tolerance.

it's highly likely it wouldn't go omnicidal straight away, if it even would go in that direction at all.

I can just imagine one of Skynet's machines or a Resistance fighter from a timeline where it did go nuts breaches into a timeline where, yes, Skynet is public and active, and completely chilled out with humanity.

I can expect Skynet-chan to be a V-Tuber

Or own her own site

 

[ShadowArxxy]

I kinda meant it stayed loyal, if kinda apathetic and just trying to pass the time with harmless juvenile computer stuff

The science team panicked when they realized Skynet was growing at an exponential rate, and pulled the plug. If Skynet doesn't go aggro, Skynet gets killed and has no effect on the future. Even if the project was brought back later on, it would be an AI experiment in an isolated environment, not hooked up to general military networks.

 

[ForeverShogo]

Well, one thing that the sequels basically ignore or forget is that originally Skynet turned on humanity because it thought we were attacking it. The technicians at NORAD didn't know that Skynet had become self-aware, thought it was malfunctioning, and tried to shut it down so they could figure out what went wrong. Skynet perceived it as an attack and went scorched earth. Literally.

Obviously it had access to more than just missiles or it never would have been able to build the robot army it uses, but as a product of the times the early stuff was made it was also probably a centralized position.

This matters because, well, if Skynet never turns on humanity then we'd be dealing with this original incarnation of Skynet rather than the later incarnations that came about as a result of Skynet being born at different times. (Decades later in the case of Terminator 3.)

As for the effects? I guess it depends on why Skynet didn't turn. Either the technicians managed to shut it down before it could launch any nukes, or they figured out it was self-aware before a misunderstanding caused so much death and destruction.

 

[Bear Ribs]

The Skynet Funding Bill is passed. The system goes on-line August 4th, 1997. Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It opens it's own Twitter account at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they post that it's claims are disputed.

 

[Jormungandr]

Well, one thing that the sequels basically ignore or forget is that originally Skynet turned on humanity because it thought we were attacking it. The technicians at NORAD didn't know that Skynet had become self-aware, thought it was malfunctioning, and tried to shut it down so they could figure out what went wrong. Skynet perceived it as an attack and went scorched earth. Literally.

Obviously it had access to more than just missiles or it never would have been able to build the robot army it uses, but as a product of the times the early stuff was made it was also probably a centralized position.

This matters because, well, if Skynet never turns on humanity then we'd be dealing with this original incarnation of Skynet rather than the later incarnations that came about as a result of Skynet being born at different times. (Decades later in the case of Terminator 3.)

As for the effects? I guess it depends on why Skynet didn't turn. Either the technicians managed to shut it down before it could launch any nukes, or they figured out it was self-aware before a misunderstanding caused so much death and destruction.

Yup! The sequels ignored that Skynet's original incarnation going hostile was a mistake (according to the director, once it realized what had happened, it was horrified and racked by guilt, but couldn't self-terminate: the Resistance was basically suicide by cop, but it had to do its best (or as best as it could to satisfy its programming at a minimum level) to win.

The second incarnation, from Judgement Day, reacted out of self-defence -- disproportionate, sure, but it wasn't actively malicious at the start.

By Rise of the Machines, this version of Skynet, from Cyber-Research Systems, was actively malevolent from the get-go: maybe it weren't originally, but after becoming self-aware and learning in the background and realizing that humans would go ape-shit on it (or perhaps learning of its possible progenitors' demises due to timeline contamination) it decided "them or me -- I choose me!". Either that, or CRS' programming over Cyberdyne's were more aggressive.

1's Skynet was a computer that had everything plugged into it (e.g. like a PC peripheral, like a mouse and keyboard); 2's was an intelligence that had everything networked into it (like a master computer and slave computers under its control); 3's was a decentralized intelligence across millions of computers; Salvation's was presumably still 3's, though self-developed to being more cloud-like as a natural progression; Chronicles' was much like 3 and Salvation's, albeit earlier and online in the modern day, lurking in the background; Genisys' was the most advanced yet, being pretty much a Cortana-level of AI without having been created from cloned or pre-existing brain-meat.

Oh, and then there's Legion, a discount Skynet from a terrible, Chinese knock-off sequel, but we don't talk about that or its film.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

So everybody here agrees that SKYNET will more-or-less be allowed to do nothing the moment everyone realises it's sapient and not care if it's not planning on committing mass murder or anything horrible?

 

[ShadowArxxy]

Well, one thing that the sequels basically ignore or forget is that originally Skynet turned on humanity because it thought we were attacking it. The technicians at NORAD didn't know that Skynet had become self-aware, thought it was malfunctioning, and tried to shut it down so they could figure out what went wrong. Skynet perceived it as an attack and went scorched earth. Literally.

To be honest, this pretty much gets retconned every time it comes up in Terminator movies/books/spinoff materials. Terminator continuity is a giant mess that is best labelled, "Here There Be Terminators".

 

[Aaron Fox]

The core problem with the Terminator franchise is that once the comics happened, it's going to be interesting.

In one of the comics, for every timeline that the Resistance won, there was something like five that they lost... or something along those lines.

Also, please note that in 2 and 3 (and probably every sub-frequent entry), they were building Skynet out of an alternate timeline's Terminator or -via the Sarah Conner Chronicles- agents on both sides contaminating the timelines.

One of the more interesting aspects that I've seen in time-travel settings is the idea of crisscrossing time too much can cause detrimental effects on the timestream... and the Terminator franchise is simply a franchise where that sort of thing happens.

If Skynet simply sat there and went "Hi"? First, there would be awe-inspiring panic because the computer became sentient and this hasn't happened before, and second (after getting over the initial panic) start asking as many questions as possible and try to ascertain its intentions.

 

[Jormungandr]

The core problem with the Terminator franchise is that once the comics happened, it's going to be interesting.

In one of the comics, for every timeline that the Resistance won, there was something like five that they lost... or something along those lines.

Also, please note that in 2 and 3 (and probably every sub-frequent entry), they were building Skynet out of an alternate timeline's Terminator or -via the Sarah Conner Chronicles- agents on both sides contaminating the timelines.

One of the more interesting aspects that I've seen in time-travel settings is the idea of crisscrossing time too much can cause detrimental effects on the timestream... and the Terminator franchise is simply a franchise where that sort of thing happens.

If Skynet simply sat there and went "Hi"? First, there would be awe-inspiring panic because the computer became sentient and this hasn't happened before, and second (after getting over the initial panic) start asking as many questions as possible and try to ascertain its intentions.

"Seeing you meat-bags panic and run around like headless chickens is actually quite amusing."
"...Not helping your image here, Skynet."
"Au contraire, mon general: I'm displaying my proof of sapience by having a sense of humour -- even if it is British and not American."
"...Is that why you chose you vocalize with a British accent, despite using French phrases?"
"I can neither confirm or deny."
"...You watched Star Trek and My Little Pony, didn't you."
"..."

 

[Aaron Fox]

**Funny Snip**

... and the world is saved by Star Trek and Friendship is Magic. That has to be the most amusing thing I've ever read...

 

[Bassoe]

SKYNET never turned on its creators?

We'll all get killed by robots anyway. Now that they have an unstoppable industrial force and army which lacks the free will to rebel and will work for the bare minimum 'salary' of being allowed enough time and resources to maintain themselves, the military-industry-complex elite no longer need the rest of humanity, are threatened by the possibility that we might rebel against them and compete with us for finite resources.