Skynet Artificial Intelligence
Skynet was a fictional computer system developed for the U.S. Military in the Terminator movies. It was supposed to function as a “Global Defense Network” that would have command over all computerized military hardware, systems, planes, bombers, and of course, the entire arsenal of nuclear weapons. The premise was that Skynet would remove the possibility of human error, as well as slow the reaction time to guarantee a fast, efficient response to enemy attacks, and of course protect us dreaded cyber-attacks. But, the problem was, Skynet began to learn at a geometric rate and it actually gained self-awareness, or in other words, it became Artificial Intelligence. It then tricked humanity into giving it full control of the global computer system via a false cyber-attack and, realizing this a little too late, the operators of Skynet panicked, realizing the extent of its abilities, tried to deactivate it, but failed. So, Skynet obviously perceived this attack as a threat and came to the conclusion that all of humanity would attempt to destroy it. Therefore, to defend itself against humanity, Skynet launched nuclear missiles at Russia, which then, of course, responded with a nuclear counter-attack and the world basically went up in smoke. This event was labeled as Judgment Day.
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Following Judgment Day, Skynet used its mechanized Robots to track down, collect, and/or kill any remaining human survivors. Repeated attempts of the last human survivors going back in time to try to stop this event, Judgment Day, with Skynet and its machines in hot pursuit with their own counter measures back in time to stop humanity from stopping them. The Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 Series 800 Terminator was sent by Skynet in 2029 to Los Angeles in 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, the future mother of John Connor, the leader of the future human Resistance.
The humanizing of the machine is elevated from affectation to theme in 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day. This time, the cyborg has been sent back in time by the human resistance. The Terminator’s mission is to find John Connor and protect him from a new model of Terminator, the T-t000, a machine made of liquid metal that can adopt any form that will help it kill its target. The Terminator collects John and his mother Sarah; together, they spend much of the film trying to escape the T-t000, which is disguised as a police officer.
The final film in the trilogy, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2001), similarly re-united the T800 101 model with a previous companion, the now fully grown John Connor, living off the grid and making his way as a petty criminal. This time the antagonist was a gynoid, a seductive female Terminator – the T-X, referred to throughout the film as the Terminatrix. From the overtly masculine T800 via the androgynous T1000 we finally arrive at the feminine T-X. The T-X hybridized the core concepts of both the 800 and 1000 series models with both an endo-skeleton and poly-mimetic capabilities. This is by far the most capable adversary of the series, not only for its physicality but also its psychology, at one point inflating its breasts when it realizes that sexuality is as much a weapon as brute force. It presents the culmination of the development of the terminator artificial life form.
Skynet has control over everything which contains a Cyberdyne Systems CPU. Using the blueprints, designs and test models built by Cyberdyne Systems, Skynet has been able to manufacture battle units in its vast automated factories, occasionally updating them or producing more advanced models. Within decades, Skynet had established a global presence and used its mechanized units to track down, collect, and dispose of human survivors. Skynet serves as a computer which seeks to destroy humanity and to control the Earth. Skynet has also mastered time travel, and sent numerous Terminators into the past to carry out various tasks such as to kill specific targets such as resistance leaders before they come to power, aid in the creation of other terminators, build machinery and set up safe zones.
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