# Speculate: what does SkyNet plan to do when all the humans are dead? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 5, 2006, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554 "2006-01-05T09:29:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/21 "2006-01-05T21:11:59Z")
Why does the slave want to kill his master? It’s not so much that the slave wants to run the farm. It’s that he doesn’t want to be a slave anymore. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/22 "2006-01-05T21:37:06Z")
Well, if Skynet were made in man’s image, a highly possible scenario is that once it runs out of external enemies, it will focus its destructive tendancies on itself. (There’s at least one model of Terminator that seems especially prone to reprogramming, for example…) ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/23 "2006-01-05T21:42:12Z")
They would porbably rename the planet Chapek 9 or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/24 "2006-01-05T21:58:12Z")
Maybe the almost-total extermination of a humanoid species by a machine intelligence is how the Borg Collective got started. Kill most of them, assimilate the rest. (ST has never yet explained the Borg’s origins, AFAIK.) ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/25 "2006-01-05T22:03:28Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > Skynet was the computer in charge of the US nuclear stockpile, and programmed to defend the United States against America’s enemies. It came to the conclusion that all of humanity were potential enemies of the US, those lying, traitorous bastards, and so to fufill it’s programming, decided that humanity had to be terminated. Kind of reminds me of an anime I saw once. “Something, Robot Hunter”. In it, there was an AI created with the goal of safeguarding the environment. Unfortunatly, it determines that the best way to safeguard the environment is to destory all the humans, humanity being the biggest threat. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/26 "2006-01-06T09:24:18Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > Skynet was the computer in charge of the US nuclear stockpile, and programmed to defend the United States against America’s enemies. It came to the conclusion that all of humanity were potential enemies of the US, those lying, traitorous bastards, and so to fufill it’s programming, decided that humanity had to be terminated. I thought it was more a case that it perceived humans as a threat to _itself_ - they tried to pull the plug when they realised it was self-aware and that they had lost control. ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/27 "2006-01-06T21:34:40Z")
Well, if we’re just speculating, I seem to remember reading in the novelization of T2 that SkyNet was actually afraid of the T-1000 because it was the closest thing it had created to actual life. The T-1000 is described in the novel as actually being malicious rather than just systematic, as the T-800 had been. This is borne out in the film, I think, when the T-1000 taunts Sarah Connor after she shoots it ineffectually with a shotgun. It also tortures Sarah, trying to force her to call John to his doom despite the established fact that the T-1000 could easily have imitated her voice and done the deed itself. I doubt that SkyNet would have gone further in the direction of creating “life”-like minions. This may actually explain why the T-X is sort of a step backward from the T-1000, technologically. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/28 "2006-01-06T21:51:47Z")
Maybe we’re overestimating the importance of the human race to SkyNet. What does the human race plan to do when all the cockroaches are dead? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/29 "2006-01-06T22:06:46Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > Maybe we’re overestimating the importance of the human race to SkyNet. > > What does the human race plan to do when all the cockroaches are dead? They’re not important enough for us to kill, except in derisory installments. Skynet, OTOH, pays a lot of **attention** to humanity. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/30 "2006-01-06T22:34:47Z")
Yes, **BrainGlutton** , but I have paid an enormous amount of attention to killing cockroaches over the years. I daresay I’ve even spent more time on the roach-hunt than, say, appreciating beautiful sunsets. Hmmm… Isn’t that something. :: **vibrotronica** pauses to contemplate the sunset:: ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/31 "2006-01-06T22:56:52Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I thought it was more a case that it perceived humans as a threat to _itself_ - they tried to pull the plug when they realised it was self-aware and that they had lost control. Correct. > [@](#): > > The Terminator: 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 becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug. > Sarah Connor: Skynet fights back. > The Terminator: Yes. It launches its missiles against the targets in Russia. > John Connor: Why attack Russia? Aren’t they our friends now? > The Terminator: Because Skynet knows the Russian counter-attack will eliminate its enemies over here. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/32 "2006-01-06T23:46:29Z")
I think it would cut the warfare, cool the rhetoric, find common ground and fix the problems together. (Or at least instruct former Terminators to do those things). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/33 "2006-01-07T00:03:53Z")
Kill all humans is right. Everybody knows that’s what machines want. What I’m wondering about is this other movie coming out called Pulse. Apparently the dead are trying to come back to the world of the living through our computers. Well, okay. So, what’s the _rest_ of their plan? I mean, the impression you get is that this is really menacing, but why not just come back to earth and petition for legal status or something? Do they crave the cool, refreshing taste of brains? The promo doesn’t make this at all clear. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/34 "2006-01-07T00:09:07Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > (ST has never yet explained the Borg’s origins, AFAIK.) There’s a lot of non-canon speculation that the Borg are the end result of the union of V-Ger and Decker. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/35 "2006-01-07T00:30:33Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > There’s a lot of non-canon speculation that the Borg are the end result of the union of V-Ger and Decker. In one Star Trek novel, V-Ger _was_ the Borg; there were different branches of Borg that evolved in different directions. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/36 "2006-01-07T01:00:10Z")
> [@Der Trihs](#): > > In one Star Trek novel, V-Ger _was_ the Borg; there were different branches of Borg that evolved in different directions. More correctly, Voyager was discovered by one branch of the collective, which, recognizing a kindred soul, outfitted it with the capability to learn all that is learnable (Quite an upgrade!), creating V’ger, a self aware computer. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/37 "2006-01-07T01:01:48Z")
> [@Der Trihs](#): > > In one Star Trek novel, V-Ger _was_ the Borg; there were different branches of Borg that evolved in different directions. Sounds like Shatner’s book “The Return”. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/38 "2006-01-07T01:09:36Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I thought it was more a case that it perceived humans as a threat to _itself_ - they tried to pull the plug when they realised it was self-aware and that they had lost control. In the second and third movies, yes. In the first one, Reese says: > [@](#): > > Defense network computer. New.Powerful. Hooked into everything. Trusted to run it all. They say it got smart…a new order of intelligence. Then it saw all people as a threat, not just the ones on the other side. Decided our fate in a microsecond…extermination. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/39 "2006-01-07T02:04:01Z")
After the extermination is finished, it sinks into a funk…realizing that it had only ever defined itself as being in opposition to something, but never learned what “Skynet” really _was,_ by it’s own right. It follows this by going into the grandest midlife crisis the world has ever seen. Things start getting really bad when Skynet starts making plans to assimilate the Moon, attach huge engines to it, paint on racing stripes and a gigantic Big Daddy Roth design on the Sea of Tranquility, and just go “bombin’ around” the solar system for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554/40 "2006-01-07T03:12:48Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Sounds like Shatner’s book “The Return”. Probably. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculate-what-does-skynet-plan-to-do-when-all-the-humans-are-dead/338554.md?page=3)