Tag: AI fiction

I watched the film Mrs. Davis. It starts off as a nun destined to find the holy grail. Sister Simone and her ex-boyfriend Wiley make an effort to destroy a powerful artificial intelligence (AI) known as Mrs. Davis. Mrs Davis is capable of destroying the algorithms for us all. She reshaped policies, brought an end to conflicts, and addressed global hunger. AI algorithm ran the world at that moment of time, and as a result, Sister Simone and Wiley had to experience mysterious dilemmas as they searched for the holy grail. 

The AI presented in Mrs. Davis kinda reminds me of god. She influences people’s decisions and assumes that people will be willing to follow an AI’s guidance without any doubts and influence their decisions. The conflicts made between people and technology were Mrs Davis’s manipulation and her algorithms used to influence and shape our human behavior.

My conclusion of the show was that there was a conflict between humanity, faith, and technology. Simone is battled by faith and Mrs. Davis the artificial intelligence is the technology. After watching this it has made me question whether or not free will is something people want. Since AI has become more integrated into our daily lives, we must be aware of the potential effects it has on our choices without us realizing it.

In A Space Odyssey the film is ultimately broken up into different sections. The first part is “The Dawn of a Man” which features the landscape of the setting Earth. The Science Fiction movie shows the transition of progress and evolution starting with apes and then taking us well into the future of humanity. During the first section the film then moves to outer space which therefore changes the environment, which has advanced space technology. The rapid and dramatic shift and background suggests a technologically advanced setting. The importance and emphasis on technology and the setting of outer space signals the shift in the stage of evolution through comparison within the opening scene. The first depiction of technology is the apes’ use of animal bones as tools in the first part. As the apes learn to master the tools provided to them allows for hunting and fighting in order for them to survive in their environment. The connection of the spacecraft and the bone shows that they have come to a point of where space travel and tech is just as equal to the use of an animal bone as a tool. Stanley Kubrick makes a few arguments based on human evolution and how humans need artificial help from other creatures and this idea of human potential which means that humans have the ability to become more than just “tools”.

Both if these pieces of media changed the course of science fiction entirely and both have similar themes.

In the world of Metropolis we a city built in layers with a defined working and leisure class, Maria our savior preaches to the workers that The Hands (the working class that builds the dream of The Head) will be delivered The Heart (the mediator between The Head and The Hands) which will bring them into a new age of equality and prosperity with The Head (the leisure class with the dream/vision of the world). It is a biblically story about class relations with references to the 7 deadly sins, and the tower of Babel, and Eden. The AI in Metropolis though originally designed to mimic a woman who had died is transformed to look like Maria the savior to sow the seeds of discord among the working class that end up destroying themselves and the city. In the end technology fails and the city must be rebuilt this time with closer relations between the working and the dreaming classes. This movie is rather interesting as it’s a movie about destroying the class system, and greed will ultimately lead to consequences previously unimaginable. The AI represents excess and recklessness, AI Maria is the mother of all sin and gets burnt for it in the end. I do like the message of that when so far separated people who were taught the same language no longer understand each other and that difference causes unrest.

Rossum’s Universal Robots is a story of human hubris using the Robots to automate the humans into not having work to do. The Robots are not given the same rights as humans because they were created without feelings or desires. Humans are the master of Robots, Robots are all the same they have a brotherhood because of that. As the robots advance they go to war with humans (humans don’t want to be automated out) until there isn’t enough humans to fight the endless amounts of robots. Thus without work or will to overcome the robots humans stop reproducing. Dr. Gall the scientist created a few robots with higher intelligence and placed them amongst the other robots, and thus they develop desire to be the master of all humans (and kill the ones who won’t obey). The robots end up killing all but one of the humans as they try to reproduce the formula for more Robots lest the world is uninhabited and the war was all for nothing. This story has biblical themes they even mention a tower of babel like event, no more universal robots but creating nations of robots so they will hate each other and lessen their collective power.

The RUR robots are made in the image of humans but the world doesn’t see them as such. Even though this a lot about the fear of the future it also reflects back on the time. We don’t treat all humans like they matter, do you consider the person on the bus the same as the one that represents us in the government. I think we should remember fiction can’t see the future they can only try to forecast what will come of themselves.

Here are the things that this media brought forward for me

• Those that own the technology will use if to benefit them the most. In Metro to stop the workers from coming into power and in RUR to make them the most money. Current AI seems to be a tool of the common people and the use of the AI funds our leisure class. These AIs could also be used to sow discord depending on what it’s trained on. Both in the fictional AI and those in our world aren’t truly sentient they are a reflection of those that make them.
• The idea that humans do not want to be automated out of jobs mostly because the system we are under no job means we can’t afford to live. Even though RUR suggests that all things will be free in the future and man could use all their time to benefit themselves that was not happening as one would think. Humans don’t take well to change and unless we are born with time we don’t know what to do with it.
• the insular nature of the ruling technological class disconnected from the consequences but doomed to fall due to their decisions. Will we see our ruling class fall as we continue forward with our AI development because we already feel the consequences of AI.
• Eden exist in both RUR and Metro one is for the new age of robots that are indistinguishable from humans, and the other for the new and more connected age of humans. Will we see the destruction and will be survive to become more connected or will we leave the world entirely.

Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar both use Artificial Intelligence in crucial ways in their storytelling while both depict the concept in very different ways.

INTERSTELLAR

Interstellar follows a group of Astronauts traveling deep into space to find an inhabitable planet to replace a dying Earth in order to save the Human Race. Among the crew are two robots powered by Artificial Intelligence, TARS and CASE. Similar to your standard depiction of A.I. the two robots are relied on heavily by their human companions, and are seen as tools to help them. in whatever way they need. However, TARS and CASE are slightly different from the standard depiction of A.I. in their personalities. They show many human traits like humor specifically and even have sacrificial moments where they take their own “lives” into account to further the mission at hand of saving humanity.

Christopher Nolan depicts Earth as a slowly dying planet due to dwindling resources. Humanity is in full survival mode trying to find any attempt to save themselves and the future generations. Cooper, portrayed by Matthew McConaughey, agrees to embark on this mission to save humanity despite knowing he will miss a significant amount of his children’s lives because he is simply powered by love and the want for them to survive regardless of what may happen to him.

Overall Nolan portrays humanity that is incredibly reliant on technology, it is the thing that even allows them to attempt to save themselves. However the over reliance of the artificial intelligence of the film does ask the question of the morality of sending these autonomous robots with what appears to be emotions on missions just as dangerous for a regular person.

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

2001: A Space Odyssey tracks humanities attempt to understand the origins of a mysterious object on the surface of the moon with the help of HAL 9000, an incredibly advanced artificial intelligence. Similar to other fictitious A.I. HAL can understand human emotions and appears as human-like in their behavior. HAL also fits the typical mold of an A.I. turning on its creators for the priority of the mission. A stereotype HAL 9000 likely shaped the mold of. This sinister perspective shows HAL viewing human life as totally expendable in service of the mission.

Kubrick views the world as an ever evolving place that in this point in his story has reached a new peak of human exploration and thought. This is easily interpreted through the sequence at the start of the film presenting the “dawn of man”. He also views technology in an evolved state as well, however it has surpassed man’s capability. HAL 9000 has its own agency and priority compared to its human companions, prioritizing the mission over any life. This presents the ethical question of asking how much should humanity allow technology to grow. It brings fear to the viewer of what could happen beyond our current relationship with technology.

Kubrick focuses on critiquing the dangers of relying too heavily on technology to save humanity. It can continue to expand the evolve at a rate much master than man. Leaving humanity behind in order to see what is beyond.

To begin, the ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey was quite possibly one of the most insane 10 minutes of my life. I haven’t been so dumbfounded since I finished Evangelion.

I find it interesting that both Interstellar and A Space Odyssey use AI in very different ways. In Interstellar, the AI are helpful, comical, and lovable characters. A very optimistic look on AI in general. But in A Space Odyssey, HAL decides to be evil out of fear; Immediately crumbling on itself and killing the other humans. A very negative look on AI.

In Interstellar, humans were slowly becoming extinct due to the Earth becoming inhabitable. Humans were working hard to find another habitable planet for themselves, and had all the tools to do so considering they succeeded. In A Space Odyssey, humans had already began to live outside of the Earth’s atmosphere. Technology was more advanced, and the world/worlds seemed to be stable.

The argument between people and technology in Interstellar is that we and AI can coexist, so much so that we view AI and robots as companions of sorts. In A Space Odyssey, AI seems to be more of a tool that we use to complete tasks for us. In both movies, AI is doing things for us, but in A Space Odyssey, there seems to be a certain uneasiness humans feel towards Artificial Intelligence.

The vision for AI in both movies is for them to be helpful and complete tasks for humans. But in Interstellar, they are much more human-like.

In A Space Odyssey, the classic idea of AI going rogue due to it becoming “too human” seems to be present. It even stresses the idea of everything ever being wrong with it was due to “human error.” This view is pessimistic when it comes to AI, but Interstellar is more optimistic as I previously stated. AI is more of a helping friend, a caretaker than just a thing to give instructions to.