It's in your nature to destroy yourselves."

Those words from Arnold Schwarzenegger (as the Terminator T-800) in the 1991 film "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" still come to mind for many of us when we hear the term artificial intelligence (AI) and in particular when we think about the role of humans in developing and increasingly embracing/relying on it.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, James Cameron, director and co-writer of Terminator 2, did stir up some of the AI terror he helped popularize in the 1990s.

"I do think there’s still a danger of a Terminator-style apocalypse where you put AI together with weapons systems, even up to the level of nuclear weapon systems, nuclear defense counterstrike, all that stuff," Cameron said.

Okay, so it’s not all upsides. But, in the 34 years since that movie debuted, AI has become an integral part of our lives, and it has proven to be a versatile tool in the work of event professionals (though referring to it as a tool seems insufficient at this point, considering its massive and rapid impact).

When we decided to focus our theme section on event tech for this issue of The Meeting Professional, we obviously knew AI would play a dominant role in our coverage, for good reason. From a discussion about the legal implications with attorney Joshua L. Grimes to keeping our workforce relevant to perhaps surprising wellness-enabling applications, we take a deep dive into the intersection of AI and events.

There are so many ways AI will drive the world forward in a position direction, and that’s particularly true in the business events industry, as illustrated throughout our tech section.

We’ll see you in the next issue, which features a money theme. Or to put it more succinctly, "I’ll be back."