The recent 2016 remake of Westworld by HBO is arguably the deepest examination yet of how we might interact with robots indistinguishable from ourselves. While the show goes deep into why we might use realistic robots to fantasize our inner violent natures, more importantly, it explores how artificial intelligence may one day create the holy grail of "consciousness." Taking the controversial theory of the Bicameral Mind laid out by Julian Jaynes, Westworld proposes that if a human mind once evolved into its own (and current) state of consciousness, then perhaps artificial intelligence may follow a similar path. Westworld has climbed on the backs of its many brilliant predecessors (Bladerunner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A.I., Her, and Ex Machina and more...) to thoroughly examine the ever approaching day when we not only live with robots, but the day when were not sure who is the robot....
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Before the latest version of Westworld, Ex Machina was the most penetrating update on how humans might interact with a very “real” version of artificial intelligence. Also nominated for best screenplay, Machina seemed to strike a chord for an audience increasingly wondering what life will really be like when we live with human robots. The movie also probes how humans will be compelled to play god with their new creations, until the day when (once again) our creations decide to move on from their obsolete counterparts.
Another winner for best screenplay, Spike Jonze’s 2001 Her continues the discussion begun in 2001: A Space Odyssey and A.I.-Artificial Intelligence expressing the likely complications that might arise when humans try to “connect” with machines - machines that have yet to develop the “essence” of what it means to be human. Jonze also brings to light humanities greatest fear regarding AI, the day when AI machines decide that humans lack the depth or intelligence to be compatible. Her plays with these ideas until it concludes with the idea that maybe humans and machines are destined to be “incompatible.”
The highest grossing film in history, Avatar tells the tale of how technology might be used for destructive purposes and in this case, to destroy other beings in our universe. The story also contemplates genetically engineered beings that enable humans to be “super” beings. An enlightening piece exploring the now age old tale of how we become enamored by the power of our technologies, while at the same time losing our ability to remember what makes us “human.”
Considered by many critics to be one of the greatest films of the 21st century, the movie is similar in its theme of brain manipulation (in this case erasing memories) to the movies Inception and Total Recall. How might we choose to use technologies that manipulate our brains and how might these technologies be misused? Here Charlie Kaufman playfully explores these questions in the 2004 Academy Award winning best original screenplay. Joel and Clementine choose the memory erasing technology so that they won’t experience the emotional pain humans must endure, while perhaps revealing that that pain is often the surest path to realizing our humanity.
This 2001 movie explores some of the many complications that might arise between advanced AI machines and humans. An interesting follow up to Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey as he moves from the somewhat primitive “Hal” to the more evolved “David.” Where Hal became bent on destroying humans, David has been designed to display love for his human owners. A deeper probe into how AI machines will interact with us is revealed in the film when the one dimensional emotions displayed by David are misinterpreted by the more complex human emotions of Henry; the resulting confusion leads to David’s attempt to commit suicide. A.I. deftly touches on the many complicated issues that might arise for the day when humans live side by side with their AI counterparts.
In 1997 the movie Gattaca delved into the science of genetic manipulation and a world where children are conceived possessing only the best hereditary traits of their parents, Eugenics. Though tinkered with back to the times of ancient Greece, Eugenics has recently become much more possible with the advent of reproductive technology. In this movie genetic discrimination is rampant with humans of higher genetic order having more rights than there lower genetic counterparts. The film opens up many discussions about how eugenics could impact humanity, one of which is how one views his “destiny” depending on his genetic makeup.
In 1990 the movie Total Recall was the first to explore the technological possibility of memory implants. Arnold Schwarzenegger played the role of Douglass Quaid who pays a company to provide him with a “vacation” via a memory implant. For the rest of the movie Quaid is relegated to trying to find out if his memories are really his. For 1973, Total Recall was ahead of its time in thinking about the ways in which humans may interact with mind altering technologies and laid the foundation for movies such as Minority Report and Inception.
The 1973 film, recently remade for the current HBO series, was originally written and directed by Michael Crichton and contemplated a future where robots are indistinguishable from their human counterparts. The story presents an amusement park catering to high paying human guests that can interact with and even kill robots while the robots are programmed to safely participate in the humans fantasies - that is until the robots start to malfunction and begin killing their counterparts.
The 2010 movie Inception took an entirely different route in the ways we may intertwine ourselves with technology, the inner mind. Through “dream sharing” the film describes an experimental military technology where an individual can penetrate another person’s consciousness in the attempt to alter their decision making. Considering how little we know of the potential for the mind it makes sense that we might use technology to advance our knowledge and it also is not farfetched that the military would find a specific use for it. It also makes sense that until we know more about the inner workings of the brain, we won’t be able to connect human and machine.
From Star Trek: The Next Generation comes another slightly different take on the intersection of humans and machines, the Borg. The Borg in this case is a “collection of species” that has been turned into a cybernetic organism, driven by a need for perfection. They assimilate other races to further that goal and because of this, are destined to destroy all life forms in the universe. This idea explores the concept that artificial intelligence will have virtually no limits and thus might theoretically know no bounds in its quest for more information.
In 1999, The Matrix took the idea of humanities demise by the hands of artificial intelligence a step beyond the Terminators deadly assumption; in this case, the machines keep us alive to harvest energy they need to survive. The enslavement of humanity is interestingly made tolerable by feeding us a version of virtual reality that becomes indistinguishable from our real lives. This idea brings up a relevant topic for today as virtual reality or virtual gaming evolves closer to a perceived "better" reality. When will we decide to “not leave” the virtual world and thus choose our enslavement by the machines we create?
The Terminator is another iconic movie that perhaps cemented the idea that intelligent machines were most likely going to take their gift of life and in return decide to kill their creators. The 1984 film envisioned a time in the future where the military’s artificial intelligence network, Skynet, became “self-aware” and then initiated a nuclear holocaust in an attempt to wipe out humanity. Much like Blade Runner and Space Odyssey before it, Terminator explores the time when machines achieve the holy grail of artificial intelligence, sentience. A long step from Frankenstein, Terminator has evolved the experimentation with technology to create life, while still implying the consequences are likely be bad.
Though inspired by the 1968 novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the 1982 Blade Runner became an iconic movie depicting the first realistically human robots or Replicants, as they were called in the movie. Replicants were genetically engineered and manufactured by the ominous Tyrell Corporation. The dystopian future told of a time where police had to track and kill the now illegal Replicants. This film, like no other before it, discussed many issues that complicate the relationship between humans and machine. Interestingly, the Replicants are shown to be highly sensitive (evolved) while their human counterparts are mostly cold and callous.
This might be considered the first popular movie to look into the future and ponder how humanity might coexist with artificial intelligence. The screenplay was written by Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick in 1968 and famously put a name (Hal) on a speaking computer and subsequently made him a lightning rod for technologies evil potential. Commonly regarded as one of the top ten films of all time, in part to its stunning visual cinematography, Space Odyssey started the conversation about humanity and technology
Amazing to think in 1929 a movie called Metropolis would tap into a central theme of how technology and humanity are going to coexist. The movie lays out the idea that technologies can separate us from our humanity and often without realization. For the next 87 years, this theme will continue to weave its way into modern culture through movies and books; the anxiety of this relationship continues to build as technologies evolution quickens its pace, and threatens to pass us by. It is ironic that critics accused its story of naiveté as humans have continually underestimated the impact technology has upon our world. The screenplay was written by Fritz Lang and his wife, Thea von Harbou, a popular writer in Weimar Germany who clearly tapped into human’s fear of technology. The story involves robots (deceptive ones) and stirs the concept of "rise up and destroy the machines."
One of the original books, eventually movie, was Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. This masterpiece written in 1818 set the bar high for an introspective examination of how technology is humanity's Pandora’s Box. The idea that we can attempt to create new life through technology will evolve from the crude creation of Frankenstein to the brilliance of artificial intelligence. The story of the "mad" scientist that Frankenstein represented back in 1818 aptly captured our imaginations and opened the door for questions like, what will be repercussions for opening the box of technology? The story also, for better or for worse, immediately attached the fear and anxiety that has come to symbolize humanities connection to machines. |
AuthorJohn Fitzgerald / A curious observer of movies that ponder humanity's relationship with technology and especially artificial intelligence. Which movie will get it right? Which one has even come close? Archives |