Sci-fi is such a cool movie genre. Not only do sci-fi movies frequently take us into strange and unusual high-tech worlds full of possibility (that, let’s be honest, sometimes go terrifyingly awry) but when done right they also leave us with a lot to think about in terms of our own lives and realities. That sometimes translates itself into not just incredible and iconic scenes, but memorable dialogue and lines as well. That’s certainly the case with Terminator 2: Judgment Day. While there are plenty of quotable moments from the 1991, Arnold Scwarzenegger starring sci-fi action blockbuster, there is one line in particular that is not only the core of the film but has long been a message for fans. Unfortunately, it’s a message that 35 years later we haven’t taken to heart quite the way we should have when it comes to technology.
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The quote in question here is a simple, but powerful one: “No fate but what we make.” It’s a shortened version of a longer message, “The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves” but the sentiment is clear: we decide our own future and our actions or inaction can have major impact, even in situations where it feels like the path has already been carved in stone. It’s intended to be a message of hope. After all, in the Terminator franchise the humans are trying to save the future and fight back against the evil AI Skynet in a post-apocalyptic future. But the quote has another meaning, serving as a reminder and a warning that we are responsible for what happens next and it’s something that we seem to have simply failed to listen to.
The Rise of AI and Other Tech Has Led to Serious Concerns About the Future
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When films like Terminator 2: Judgment Day first hit theaters the technological landscape we live in now was something that would have looked like the stuff of science fiction. Not only has technology advanced faster and faster and become a massive part of day-to-day life, it’s the rise of modern AI and its use that has in particular exploded in recent years with people in all areas of life embracing it on nearly every level without fully considering the consequences. And there have been consequences. As AI is increasingly incorporated into the business world, real people across different industries are losing jobs in favor of the use of technology. Even with just casual, day-to-day usage of AI thanks to things like ChatGPT, Claude, and other systems, we see incorrect information being disseminated as fact. There’s even issues with identifying what’s real and what isn’t as AI grows more and more sophisticated in terms of the creation of video, photos, and more that look real but simply aren’t. And those are largely superficial concerns — there are also major concerns about power centralization (meaning who controls information and power) and environmental concerns as well with the amount of damage large data centers do to the land and communities where they’re built.
But while it’s easy to point to the technology and make it the villain, the truth is the technology only exists and has been able to gain such a foothold because humanity has allowed it. The “fate” that delivers us to a world of AI advancement is one that we’ve “made” for ourselves. The widespread implementation of AI and other technology comes from deliberate choice. Humans developed it, humans built it, and humans decided to use it more and more, potentially to our own detriment. While that hasn’t turned into a machine takeover of the world just yet, that doesn’t mean there haven’t been some terrifying issues. There have been a handful of recent headlines about advanced AI models from companies like OpenAI and Anthropic “escaping” their testing environments and functionally going rogue, stealing credentials and accessing servers and other networks they weren’t supposed. The ramifications of something like that happening in the wrong situation is, well, terrifying in ways Terminator only scratched the surface of. If this is the fate we’re making, well… yikes.
“No Fate But What We Make” Can Still Be a Message of Hope
While there are plenty of things that we can look at in our world and recognize that are issues of our own creation (AI and technology is perhaps just the most significant considering the story in the Terminator franchise,) it is also important to realize that it’s not all doom and gloom. “No fate but what we make” applies to what we do going forward, not looking back. That’s at its core what the quote really means: you always have choices and in choice there is power. AI is here; there is no denying that. The “what we make” then becomes a matter of how we navigate what we do with the technology now. When you frame things that way, even with choices that lead perhaps to less than ideal places, there is still the opportunity to work towards something better. If there is one thing that history has shown us is that humanity can change, adapt, and figure things out even when things are there most challenging. Humanity is built on changing course — and we’ll continue to make our own fate. “No fate but what we make” reminds us not to give up hope and not stop fighting for tomorrow.
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