ChatGPT and dreams of electric sheep: A brief history of AI in film – Moneycontrol
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In March 2023, as OpenAI released ChatGPT 4, the anxiety around AI spiked yet again. An open letter drafted by the Future of Life Institute, and signed by some of the most prominent names in technology, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak and academics and policy makers, went viral. Calling for a pause in research and development of advanced AI systems, the letter crystallized a concern that has been around for a century. Ominously, the letter asked: “Should we develop non-human minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete [sic] and replace us?”
Being replaced by non-human minds is not a particularly novel idea. In fact, it is in many ways the central question of a lot of science fiction, in literature and film. Science fiction is really the crucible of artificial intelligence; indeed, where the idea of sentient machines first evolved. And for as long as sentient machines have been part of the popular imagination, so has the anxiety around what that could mean for humanity. Nowhere is this more pronounced than in this line from Fritz Lang’s silent German film Metropolis: “Between the head and hands there must always be a mediator, and that should be the heart.
Released in 1927, Metropolis is set in a futuristic city and features a robot named Maria—created by an inventor on the behest of the city’s “master”, but their motives are not one—who is supposed to serve the wealthy ruling class but ends up inciting a rebellion among the city’s working-class population.
Apart from its innovative visual effects and visual design (Lang was influenced by German Expressionism as well as the architecture of the time, Art Deco and Modernist), Metropolis continues to resonate for its themes of class conflict and industrialization; but indirectly, also the potential dangers of advanced technology.
While the robot in Metropolis is powerful, it isn’t directly a source of threat to humanity, which is a notion that grew popular as artificial intelligence’s scope expanded in fiction and real life. Films like The Terminator (1984) and The Matrix (1999) are classic examples, where the sentient machines have turned against their human creators and are seeking to destroy them.
Directed by James Cameron, The Terminator stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a cyborg assassin sent back in time to kill the mother of a future resistance leader.
The Matrix, directed by the Wachowskis, depicts a dystopian future where humans are unknowingly trapped in a simulated reality while being used as an energy source by machines.
These films often raise questions about the limits of technology and the dangers of creating something that we cannot control. They tap into that greatest of fears, of machines turning against their creators, and these films serve as a warning about the potential consequences of AI.
But beyond this overarching apprehension, some films have explored what sentient machines could look like, what human interaction with them could look like, and the potential benefits of AI. In Alex Proyas’s I, Robot (2004), for example, Will Smith’s Del Spooner must work with a robot to solve a mystery, ultimately discovering that the robot has developed emotions and a sense of morality. The film raises questions about the relationship between humans and machines and the potential for AI to help us solve complex problems.
But before they can be of use or pose a threat to humanity, there is the question of what sentience can look like in artificial beings. What is the nature of this consciousness and what does it mean to have a soul or a sense of self? Can intelligence necessarily lead to personhood? Robin Williams’ quest to become more human in Bicentennial Man (1999) might be a benign one, but there are darker themes—importantly, who really is the one in power—explored in Blade Runner (1982) and Ex Machina.
In Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a mercenary hired to destroy rogue “replicants”—androids built to be “more human than human” by the evil corporation, but without assigning them any agency. Alex Garland’s Ex Machina (2014), meanwhile, has Ava and Kyoko, two humanoids built by a star inventor, who are hankering for something that comes with being almost human: freedom.
Where there is intelligence, there is scope for companionship. Jake Schreier’s Robot and Frank considers the larger themes of loneliness and social isolation through the story of an ageing jewel thief’s budding friendship with a robot gifted by his son. Spike Jonze’s groundbreaking film Her (2013) depicted Joaquin Phoenix’s Theodore Twombly, an introverted writer, falling in love with an AI assistant, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. In fact, Jonze wrote Her (and a short film I’m Here before it) after reading a news article about a website that allowed for instant messaging with an artificially intelligent system.
Sound familiar? Her feels especially pertinent to this moment we are witnessing with ChatGPT’s rapid advancement. There’s an early exchange between Theodore and Samantha (the AI), where she explains to him how she works. “Basically I have intuition,” Samantha says. “I mean, the DNA of who I am is based on the millions of personalities of all the programmers who wrote me. But what makes me me is my ability to grow through my experiences. So basically, in every moment I’m evolving, just like you.”
Samantha has evolved to such a degree that she can read massive books in seconds, ask questions, hold philosophical conversations, share feelings and even be in love with 641 people at once. She represents a vision of AI so far ahead that it does not sit in the uncanny valley.
“Well you seem like a person, but you’re just a voice in a computer,” says Theodore dubiously. He could be all of us today.
“I can understand how the limited perspective of an un-artificial mind would perceive it that way,” replies Samantha. “You’ll get used to it.”
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