Ex Machina (2014)
Ex Machina is an interesting movie to discuss; my initial viewing felt like a potential reflection of what our future might resemble if science continues to research artificial intelligence. Now, I don't think there will be any anthropomorphic robots clothed in human skin roaming around the streets of Toronto anytime soon, but I do believe science is on the brink of creating self aware machines and fully autonomous robots.
now for a quick synopsis:
Ex Machina is about a young and promising (and very lonely) programmer (Domnhall Gleeson) who works at a successful Internet corporation (think Google or Bing) who receives the promotion of a life time. Ok, more like a week-long stint at the residence of his company's CEO (Oscar Isaac), nonetheless his temporary promotion demotion as the CEO's roommate gives the young programmer an opportunity to study the technology behind a beautiful robot (Alicia Vikander) designed by the CEO himself. In other words, the protagonist becomes responsible of observing and interacting with the brilliant yet deceptive robot to figure out if conscious technology is ready to be integrated with society... What can go wrong, right? I won't spoil that for you, but I will raise a question: Is society truly close to achieving a future filled with self-aware robots? Err, not really. But I think we're on the right track.
Google and Microsoft have been dumping millions of dollars into the future of artificial intelligence, ultimately hoping to develop a robot with human-like consciousness... and even though science is far from achieving this technological feat, people are still worried about the implications artificial intelligence may bring (*cough* robot apocalypse *cough*). With films like The Terminator and Eagle Eye, it's easy to see why people are skeptical... but should society be worried about the extinction of the human species or more precisely our jobs? I don't necessarily think we have anything to be worried about just yet, but there is no doubting that the future of robotics will eventually replace certain jobs... take for example this robot who specializes in flipping burgers. It's not hard to imagine that one day we'll have these guys preparing our food at every fast food joint in North America. The advances occurring within robotics are evolving at such an alarmingly fast rate, that chances are most of society's 'repetitive' jobs will soon become obsolete. However, with change also comes adaptation... no matter the innovation, major breakthroughs will always contain both pro's and cons.
One particular institution that utilizes modern day robots is none other than the military... Rovers and drones have been used to carry out dangerous tasks across the world for quite some time. Whether it's a remotely powered device used to detonate bombs in hazardous environments or unmanned aircrafts programmed to fight terrorists overseas, it's clear the military has found use for our robotic friends. But will they always be our friends? With the continuing developments of A.I. theres no telling what the outcome of our future will be with robotics. But don't get me wrong, I don't think there will be a robot uprising in our future (my money is still on Zombies), but with applications like Siri (on Iphones) and Google Now for Android devices, there's no denying that robotic-like technologies have already enslaved this generation with forms of consumerism. Thanks Steve Jobs.
Here's to the future of A.I.
Question: Do you believe there is room for Hollywoods depiction of artificial intelligence and advanced robotics within the future of our own culture?
Julius,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post on the movie Ex Machina. I saw this movie and I thought it was very interesting as well. I loved your use of gif images and your explanation of the military's use of robotics and drones. I look forward to your next post.
Julie-Ann
I have not seen the movie, but I consider myself quite up to date with the technology that is being displayed in movies. From your summary of the film, it seems that the movie is based on artificial intelligence and how it could be deadly for the human race. You also stated that we are far away from achieving AI robots that could be fully autonomous, but what about Google's self-driving cars? I know they aren't perfected yet, but it makes you think, what if they put that in a human skeleton like robot and changed some of the features.
ReplyDeleteJulius,
ReplyDeleteGreat post this week. Ex Machina is a fantastic movie. I am loving that you keep choosing movies that I have seen, it makes it easy for me to relate to your posts and understand exactly what you are discussing. As for robotics taking over... there are definitely going to be some jobs up for grabs, and many people have a right to be frightened by this! Robots are becoming so advanced that eventually, there will not be many tasks that they cannot perform as well as humans can.
- Katie
Julius,
ReplyDeleteI thought your post this week was interesting! I've never seen the movie (not really a movie person, and I probably won't have anything exciting to comment on your posts), but I thought that the idea of technology and the future are things that we can all relate to. I was reading something recently about a city that plans on having robotic police offers within the next decade, but I guess we can't really know what to expect... As a kid, I probably expected hover cars by 2017, or at least hover boards that don't have wheels. Great post!