The Kurzweil Collection: The best sci-fi films about AI
Ray Kurzweil is a pioneer of artificial intelligence and coined the term technological singularity. This refers to the point in time when artificial intelligence will surpass human intelligence. How the world will then develop is unclear. Of course, we can speculate. There are also a number of films (and books, of course) that paint very different scenarios. Here is a subjective overview of which films I think are worth seeing.
The Technological Singularity
The moment a artificial intelligence If the human being transcends the human, it can improve itself without human intervention and control. Ray Kurzweil described this idea in the book Humanity 2.0: the singularity is approaching. What is less well known is that the idea of the singularity was already described by Vernor Vinge in the 1980s. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any film adaptations of Vinge's books.
In my opinion, one of the best SiFi books of all time: A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge. A planet is invaded by aliens. But this time the humans are the aliens who are after the planet.
Here is a completely subjective list of films that describe different scenarios. The focus here is on the social (and not personal) effects of the Singularity.
Terminator: The evil AI
In this classic, the AI feels threatened by humanity. It tricks the humans into giving control of everything (including weapons) to the humans. Once this is the case, it strikes without hesitation. In first movie this only plays a minor role. The third part focuses on the evolution of AI.
I Robot: The good AI
Well, "good" in this case means that the AI believes it has to protect humans from itself. The interesting thing about this story is that the AI is bound by the three robot laws: a robot may not harm or kill a human being.
The movie is ok, the books by Isaak Asimov are much better.
Her: The indifferent AI
What makes us humans so human is our ability to philosophize about ourselves and the world. This idea Her on. In this story, the main character falls in love with an AI. But the AI continues to develop and enters into new relationships with humans and other AIs. I find it exciting that the philosopher Alan Watts plays a role, which I greatly appreciate. As far as Kurzweil is concerned, I think this is the most likely scenario.
Bladerunner, 2001, Ex Machina,
There are of course many other exciting and good films about artificial intelligence. I find the three mentioned interesting because they deal with the social impact of AI. In contrast, 2001, for example, is about a small group of space travelers, not about society.
What other important or worthwhile films on the topic are missing? Feel free to comment below!
Image source: FreePic
