A popular theme in many works of fiction includes machines overthrowing and either ruling over or attempting to eradicate humanity. The 2014 film, Ex Machina, takes a very different approach from the more popular depiction. The approach is more intellectual and psychological, regarding the concept of artificial intelligence. Instead of the general plot of, “humankind needs to be saved from the machines,” it deals with defining consciousness and what it means to be human.
In Kevin Kelly’s essay, “The Three Breakthroughs that have finally unleashed AI on the World” he talks about how AI will help better define what it is to be human. In his essay, he says the most effective AI will not be conscience. Consciousness will make AI less efficient at their jobs. As an example he includes, “We want our self driving cars to be inhumanly focused on the road, not obsessing over an argument it had with the garage” (Kelly, 6). Ava, in the film, did not really do anything; she had no function. She had no purpose, except to exist, but, at the same time, her one goal was to be free. This …show more content…
However old she may be, she surely should have known how old she is beyond “one,” given she was the one to bring up the topic of her age. That seems odd, considering she was something like the sixth incarnation of her mind, and she presumably was, rather specifically, made to pass for human in a face-to-face conversation, so it seems odd that Nathan would not have decided to sort the quirks out before Caleb came. Something else in the scene that should be noted is that a sort of buzzing or whirring sound could be heard every time Ava moved. These details were put in there to reinforce the fact that she is a machine. This reinforcement makes her seem less human-- more robotic. Arguably, this dehumanization could be seen as a way to push the idea that she is not conscious in to the audience’s
In Kevin Kelly’s essay, “The Three Breakthroughs that have finally unleashed AI on the World” he talks about how AI will help better define what it is to be human. In his essay, he says the most effective AI will not be conscience. Consciousness will make AI less efficient at their jobs. As an example he includes, “We want our self driving cars to be inhumanly focused on the road, not obsessing over an argument it had with the garage” (Kelly, 6). Ava, in the film, did not really do anything; she had no function. She had no purpose, except to exist, but, at the same time, her one goal was to be free. This …show more content…
However old she may be, she surely should have known how old she is beyond “one,” given she was the one to bring up the topic of her age. That seems odd, considering she was something like the sixth incarnation of her mind, and she presumably was, rather specifically, made to pass for human in a face-to-face conversation, so it seems odd that Nathan would not have decided to sort the quirks out before Caleb came. Something else in the scene that should be noted is that a sort of buzzing or whirring sound could be heard every time Ava moved. These details were put in there to reinforce the fact that she is a machine. This reinforcement makes her seem less human-- more robotic. Arguably, this dehumanization could be seen as a way to push the idea that she is not conscious in to the audience’s