Written by Quennie B. Sereno/THE RED CHRONICLES
Layout by Vhee-Jei M. Bringas/THE RED CHRONICLES
AI is Everywhere
From virtual assistants to self-driving cars to facial recognition systems to auto-corrections to chatbots to search and recommendation engines, whether we are aware of it or not, artificial intelligence (AI) is all around us. It pervades our home, workspace, school, and social life. The exponential growth of AI is unprecedented. It seems we are building better, smarter devices, and systems every year. Undoubtedly, it has transformed our lives into an easier place. But, does AI have destructive potential? Some movies seem to warn us of the possibility of an AI takeover leading to the extinction of mankind. With ominous movies like these, one cannot help but wonder whether there is a grain of truth in them or not. Let’s examine some of these AI-inspired films.
Mother/Android
What began as a festive Christmas party descended into anarchy as androids in the form of butlers turned against their masters, killing humans. The movie follows the story of Georgia, who is nine months pregnant, and her boyfriend, as they embark on a dangerous journey en route to Boston, where they can safely give birth to their child. While crossing a stronghold for androids, the young couple got separated, with Sam held captive by the androids. With the help of a mysterious man, Georgia managed to free a crippled and bludgeoned Sam and flee to Boston together with the mysterious man. Upon interrogation, Georgia realized that the mysterious man was in fact an android which tricked her so that it could infiltrate Boston and annihilate humans. In a heart-wrenching ending, the young couple was forced to separate from their newborn son who will be taken to Asia where he could grow and have a chance at a better future.
Mother/Android is a classic movie depicting an AI takeover, a treacherous world where humans are at constant war against androids. It was not fully explained as to exactly how and why the androids turned against humans. This film serves as a warning of the dangers of failing to track the current impact of AI. This is what Sasha Luccion, an AI researcher, advocates. In a TED talk, she emphasized the importance of creating tools to assess the current impact of AI in order to determine when an AI model works and when it does not. Facial recognition systems, for instance, may result in false accusations and wrongful imprisonment. “Focusing on AI’s future risks is a distraction from its current risks. AI is moving quickly. We are building the world as we walk on it,” Sasha said.1 that the future AI models we will create, according to Harris, are aligned with human interests.2
Replica
Another AI-thought provoking movie is Replica, starring Keanu Reeves, who plays William Foster, a biomedical research scientist, husband, and father to three children. At Bionyne, he is tasked with finding ways of transferring the brain of a dead soldier into an android called Subject 345. When his entire family died in a car crash, he brought his family from the dead except his youngest daughter due to equipment shortage. Later in the film, they find themselves on the run after his boss revealed his intent to kill them for being loose ends and Bionyne’s real goal which is to weaponize Subject 345. After an unsuccessful escape, his boss captured his family in exchange for Subject 345’s algorithm. Unbeknownst to his boss, he made a replica of his brain, transplanting it into Subject 345, using it to protect his family. He then negotiated for his family’s safety by resurrecting his mortally wounded boss and allowing the latter to use Subject 345 as a business venture of prolonging the life of people willing to pay the high price.
Although the film ended with William getting a second chance to happily and peacefully live with his family including his youngest daughter, it does not change the fact that he took the law into his own hands. True to what his boss said, “Desperation has driven many great men to accomplish the impossible.” Unable to accept the death of his family, rather than calling the police or ambulance, his grief compelled him to do the unthinkable, not contemplating whether it was right or wrong. Unlike the first two films, which involve the extinction of mankind, Replica raises ethical and moral questions. In the present, the technology of restoring a dead person to life or human cloning already exists. But similar technologies like life extension, designer babies, and memory extraction are foreseeable. Whether these technologies are scientific breakthroughs or playing God is a question our generation must address.
What Does the Future Hold
The rise of AI is inevitable. As creativity and innovation are encouraged and incentivized, humans will continue to build smarter devices, systems, and models every year. But, good and bad are two sides of the same coin. While AI has improved our lives, providing convenience and efficiency, and will continue to do so, these three movies tell a cautionary tale: the potential dark side of AI. These include – as depicted in the three movies – cyber warfare, military droids, life extension, and memory extraction. Or, as we have seen happening in our society, labor substitution, privacy concerns, and data leakage. But if an AI takeover is to be avoided at all, we need to start discussing the current impact of AI. In that way, we continue to be served, not enslaved, by AI.