Hollywood spent a lot of time programming people to think in certain ways about certain subjects when it came to science and technology, but in truth, Hollywood was just as ignorant as everyone else was when it came to these subjects...but they could entertain people with them, and nothing gets butts in seats quite like disasters, thrills, and exaggerations. 

As such, Hollywood was defining how people thought about certain technologies long before those technologies ever truly came to fruition. 

For instance, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) showed an out-of-control AI and how dangerous it could be. Lots of Hollywood movies took that concept and ran, such as Terminator (1984) and rogue AI became a fixture in the minds of audiences all over the world. 

Now, every time I write about AI advancement, many of my readers curse the evolution of this tech and bring up one of those movies as a reference as to why we shouldn't be opening the door for AI. I actually addressed what the real danger of AI is in an article I penned last November, pointing out that the chances of a rogue AI aren't zero, but it's definitely not likely. That's a Hollywood fantasy. 

While you're looking out for a red-eyed robot trying to kill John Connor or keep you in The Matrix (1999), the real danger of AI is its ability to take jobs, curb birthrates, or misinform people based on its programmers' ideological perspectives.

I highly suggest you read the article in the link below.

Let's Get Real About What AI Is, and the Dangers It Actually Poses

On Wednesday I wrote about how humanity is looking to tame one of its greatest predators, the virus, and utilize it to destroy cancers and bacterial infections. As I wrote, despite humanity's work with reprogramming and training viruses being relatively new in the history of our existence, we've been taking things that were once destructive and repurposing them for our benefit for thousands of years. Wolves, dogs, and electricity were once plagues to humanity, and now they serve us. Viruses were just next on the list. 

Yet, once again, you saw many people immediately referring to the expectations Hollywood gave them, and they rejected this science outright. Some people brought up various video games and movies as a reference as to how this ends, such as Resident Evil (1996) and I Am Legend (2007). 

Given, not everyone distrusts virus training because of Hollywood. Rightfully, they distrust it because COVID-19 was released from a lab and plagued the world, though I'd say the real plague was authoritarian governments who used it as a way to exert inordinate power over people, including unproven vaccines. 

Still, Hollywood training definitely raised its ugly head. The reality of the situation isn't as bombastic as Hollywood made virus training out to be. For instance, viruses don't suddenly mutate out of control, it takes time for that to happen. Scientists have strict regulations and safety layers with viruses, and we've been testing them this way for 10 to 15 years before they see regulatory approval. 

When an outbreak isn't being made into a show for authoritarians to take advantage of, humanity is pretty good at containment when something deadly actually arises. Ebola has had multiple outbreaks, and we've acted swiftly to stop it, and very successfully.

READ MORE: Humanity Is Domesticating One of Its Oldest Predators Responsible for the Deaths of Millions

I get that the speed of technological advancement can be alarming for some. Here's an interesting fact that will blow your mind if you haven't heard it already. 

After hundreds of thousands of years of being a hunter/gatherer species, we became agrarian at some point between 10,000 and 8,000 BC. Around 10,000 years later (give or take), we'd mechanize, bringing around the industrial age of humanity. We'd learn how to use steam engines and develop mass production. 

Then, just 250 years later, we'd enter another technological revolution known as the information age, placed somewhere around the 1950s and onward to about today. However, we're already on the verge of entering a new technological era that will mark another revolutionary period in human advancement, the AI age. If you mark the birth of the information age around the 1950s, the AI age only took 70 to 80 years to get to. The leaps in technological development only spurred faster development, which suggests technological revolutions will begin happening at a rate faster than most people can live and die. 

I tell you this because if you're not used to this speed of change in human civilization, it can be understandably frightening on a certain level. I think at this stage in humanity the only two generations who understand this speed are Gen X and Millennials, who effectively grew up with these changes, while many Boomers didn't experience this level of technological change for a good portion of their lives. They were already well-established adults before the information age really took off in the 80s and 90s. 

Gen Z was born after the internet had been firmly established, social media was a norm, and streaming was the standard for information consumption. Gen Alpha will likely be the AI generation, and the next generation after that will likely have an entirely different civilization to live in given the speed of technological advancement. 

Change is normal for younger Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z, and will be for Gen Alpha. Boomers aren't so lucky. Their introductions to these concepts were through Hollywood, which always fed them the worst-case scenario. It's odd to think about, given how hated Hollywood is. 

I'll say this about what I'm going to start calling "Hollywood-outcomes." The chances of them happening aren't zero, but they aren't likely. 

In the same way, a rogue AI picking up a gun and going on a murder spree could happen... but the chances of that happening are extremely low. There are more important things to worry about for future generations than a machine war with AI, such as programmers with malicious or authoritarian intent, which is a human issue.

A man-made virus mutating out of control and killing all humanity is a possibility, but it's about as likely as finding an entire chest of pirate treasure in your garage. Viruses don't actually want to be deadly, they want to thrive, and they can't thrive if they're killing their hosts. Did you know the COVID-19 virus became less severe with every iteration? It's not often talked about, but greater infection is the goal for viruses, not lethality. Science tells us viruses evolve to survive, Hollywood says they evolve to kill or turn into raging zombies.

My Saint Bernard could become like Cujo (1983) and rip me apart, but really he's more interested in eating treats and sleeping on cushions. The likelihood of him being bitten by a bat and going into a murderous rampage is so low it might as well be impossible.

Don't let Hollywood define your reality. By all means, enjoy the thrill ride it provides, but don't let it stress you into expecting doomsday to arrive with every technological advancement. You're going to see a lot of them coming up, so now is a good time to stop letting Hollywood train your expectations.