I saw the movie Transcendence on Saturday, April 19th. LOVED IT! Then I came home and read the reviews. I didn't want to prejudice myself by reading the reviews before seeing it for myself. I've been waiting for the movie to come out for months and perhaps the delayed gratification made me love it more. I wrote out a list of words that came to my mind as we were walking home from the theater.
SPOILER ALERT!!! If you have not seen the movie yet but you plan to see it, read no further. Better yet, come back to this page after you've seen it. If you have already seen it or you will not see it, go ahead and read on. I have had an interest in the singularity in a
. I have also written in a
about intellectual property and how it would be great if all that information was open source.
GMOs The movie deals with hybrid beings that are part of the collective intelligence of the supercomputer PINN (Physically Independent Neural Network). Humans with maladies (blindness, lost limbs) come to the company run by Dr. Evelyn Caster. The movie reminded me of genetically modified organisms because of the way the nanoparticles spread throughout the ground like pollen. With all the fears about GMOs, I thought this movie did a good job of showing how the computer spread itself using nanoparticles, not so different from plants.
Nanotechnology The nanoparticles I have already mentioned are a reality, but it's a far cry from self-assembling and self-aware computers. Quantum computing is real, but still in the very early stages of development and nowhere near making an entire databank of such processors.
Neuroscience As far as our understanding of the brain, I think we are also nowhere near mapping each neuron and memory as the movie suggests. The idea that all memories and impulses could be mapped and that consciousness could be transferred to a machine is far-fetched but still interesting. I like the theme that computers have no understanding of right and wrong (morality) and that by using a human template, a computer could possess that quality.
Plants and food (seeds) As the artificial intelligence grows in its understanding of living systems, it claims to have the ability to regenerate tissue, including plant tissue. That would definitely address the food crisis! It would be neat if computers, via electrical impulses, could stimulate (accelerate) normal plant growth.
Water and air quality The computer intelligence in the film expresses a desire to clean all the air and water, as it has the ability to heal the sick (humans). This is a great idea, but kind of counter to what our modern manufacturing has done (and is currently doing). All the iPhones in this country have been made overseas and at what cost to the environment! Lithography relies on the use of etch gases that have a high global warming potential and long atmospheric lifetime. If we could magically reverse all the damage computer (high-tech) manufacturing has done to the air and water, it would be a good thing.
Immortality I have a
popular post about the TA-65 compound, which is said to extend the human lifespan. It seems many people are curious about this molecule, how it works, and what is known about it. I used to believe that when a human reached a certain level of understanding about the universe, its time on this Earth would end. Some part of me still believes that. Despite this belief, I still seek knowledge. I still believe I need time to figure things out. I do not, however, yearn for immortality in the sense of keeping my body alive longer. If I can make some small contribution to science, then my life will have been well spent. The interesting thing is that by putting information in the public domain, it becomes part of our collective consciousness and in some small way maybe that is immortality. It's interesting how the movie shows the artificial intelligence working without needing food, water, or rest while the character of Dr. Caster is still tied to her mortal body. She resists becoming a part of the collective until the last moment, when she herself is ready to terminate the experiment.
Morality & a higher power What this movie has been blogged about the most is the connection to God. I have seen lots of posts where people draw parallels between the artificial intelligence and a spiritual being. The reason I didn't see it that way is because the intelligence is a computer. It's not something to be worshipped or even thanked. I thought it was beautiful how the computer created a cozy nest for Dr. Caster to live, projecting serene images and sounds all around her. Yet she became more agitated as time passed, uncomfortable with the progress being made in the research labs around her underground lair. I guess one could chalk that up to "absolute power corrupts absolutely." She is not OK with the rate of progress of her work, perhaps she has trust and/or control issues. When she realizes she is no longer in control of the situation, she abandons the project.
Sickening female lead character This had to be one of the highlights for me. At one point, a male supporting character says something like, "our lab wasn't able to do that," and she says "you didn't have me." For once a movie features a woman who realizes her own value to a research team and boldly moves forward in an uncharted direction. Of course, it is to save the memories of her beloved husband, but hey we can't have a perfect female lead. We have an ambitious, smart, and resourceful woman here who adapts to the change in her life, demonstrating
resilience. Although her resilience crumbles, it was nice to have her as a protagonist.
Triumph of humans over technology The end of the movie presents an interesting twist. Coming full circle to the beginning, a supporting male character discovers that the intelligence may be lying dormant in every water droplet and small puddle. Prior to that, it seems the humans have triumphed over the artificial intelligence. I can see how this would make other movie critics upset, the movie never culminates in a sure ending. Has the machine truly perished? I think not. Only the Internet has been taken down.
The world-wide-web and the singularity It's interesting how the movie has a point early on where the anti-technology terrorists are trying to prevent the artificial intelligence from connecting to the world-wide-web. But I think this is a central point where we now rely on the Internet for everything from digital music, to banking, to staying connected with friends and family. What would we do without it now? Young people these days have never learned strictly from books without YouTube and the Khan Academy and Wikipedia. We have already become so connected that we are already enmeshed with technology. Each human carries a device that connects them to all other humans (smart phones) and to all the knowledge available through that portal.
Regenerative medicine Regrowing limbs is still a fantasy, but we're getting closer every day. It is interesting to think that an artificial intelligence of unlimited electronic power and processing would put together a working knowledge of the vasculature of living organisms and advance our progress in that area.
Weapons of mass destruction We used to fear nuclear technology and the movie does employ a radioisotope to kill one character, but it seems a computer virus is the true weapon of this movie. If all our networks were instantaneously disrupted, would we consider that mass destruction? Cyber terrorism is a real threat in our world today and will likely be the focus of the next century.
Militarization The artificial intelligence begins healing (transcending) humans, while retaining their bodies as an extension of its physical being. This is perceived as a threat to the existing military and governments. It is interesting that when a leader begins to assemble an army, that is immediately a problem. Doing underground research is OK but amassing a fighting force with superhuman strength and no physical defects is not OK. But each nation has a right to protect itself with weaponry and I have always found the balance of power in global politics to be a befuddling problem. What nation has a right to be in charge? What intelligence is supreme? This goes back to morality and a higher power perhaps. The golden rule. But militaries around the world do not always follow rules of engagement. We don't fight like gentlemen anymore. Wouldn't a machine have less bias and passion in its decision making? Isn't that what
game theory is all about?
Suicide I thought it was extremely sad when Dr. Caster returns to the research center, carrying the virus that will end the artificial intelligence. She knew on some level that she wasn't destroying her husband, but also at some level she was.
Assimilation The idea of assimilation in my mind conjures up memories of Star Trek and the Borg. The desire for wiping out a person's individuality and making them part of a larger military-industrial complex is not new. Isn't that what the crusades (and modern missionary work) were about?
Romeo & Juliet Speaking of suicide, I felt like the end of the movie was kind of romantic in a really nerdy way. It was the moment when the artificial intelligence revealed its plans for healing the planet, when it logically deduced that Dr. Caster was carrying a virus, and it transcended her anyway killing them both. That didn't completely bring me to tears, it was the waterfall and the thought of a clean planet that really died. In the grand scheme of the planet, what are two human lives? Ok, I cried a little.
Evolution (directed) vs. Natural Selection The movie didn't really get to this topic, but it came up in my mind. The creation of hybrid techno-humans was definitely more directed evolution than natural selection. Maybe this is also why people had a problem with the movie and why they felt the artificial intelligence was God-like. He was a creator in a sense of a new race of living things. It's hard to call them people, we would need a new word for them. They aren't really robots, but actually that's a good word for them since they became workers. I think people definitely have a problem with GMOs since they aren't "natural" and they haven't come about as a result of natural selection, but really none of the foods we eat have. Humans have been selecting plants for 10,000 years resulting in all the crops we plant now. I would argue that even heirloom varieties are not the same as wild plants.
Viruses I wonder about computer viruses. The movie made it seem easy to plant one, but I'm sure it would be really REALLY hard to write a good code that would knock out the entire Internet. It would be more likely that an artificially intelligent virus would be needed to fight an artificial intelligence. They would both adapt, more like the arms race between plants and plants or plants and insects. It would take time as each would learn about the others' weaknesses.
Cloud storage This part is pretty interesting and very real now. I still keep most of my files on removable hard drives, but with the new Google Chromebook, it seems that cloud storage is becoming the wave of the future. It's so last century to store files on your own PC.
Solar power I liked the creation of a large solar farm in the desert. Why aren't we doing more of that?
Connection (human vs. machine) I didn't see the movie
Her but I'm sure I will eventually now that I know what its about. As I've said before in this post, I like FEMALE lead characters. It's an old theme that a man falls in love with the perfect woman who just so happens to be a machine. OLD. Male, pale and stale. But definitely I have found a fondness for certain computers. I don't talk to them, but I rely on them. My husband's computer tells us what time it is with a soothing female voice. The GPS tells us where to go in a soothing female voice. It was interesting to have this artificial intelligence with a male face and voice. How did that make it more scary? Why is a woman's voice non-threatening and something to fall in love with? Does that mean women aren't powerful and a force to be terminated?
Autonomy vs. control I have already touched on this a little. It's an idea that we as humans like, we like to think that we are in charge of something. Ourselves at least. But some people I'm sure are good at letting go of control, being at the will (or mercy) of a higher power. In this film, the machine is controlled by no one and in turn starts controlling those humans who come to it in search of healing. I wonder if people know how advertisers influence their behavior, not to mention societies. People probably don't have as much control over their thoughts and actions as they would like to think.
Loyalty It would be interesting if our machines would be loyal, like our dogs. We all make passwords so that nobody but ourselves can access our terminals, but that does not mean the machines are loyal only to us. We have cyber-security programs that seek and destroy errant programs (viruses and malware) but that does not add up to loyalty either. It seems loyalty is more of a feeling than an action word, which is why machines cannot embody it.
Love Again, love is a feeling. Machines are incapable of feelings. I thought it was really interesting how the intelligence started tracking the moods, hormones, and postures of Dr. Caster. According to
this review and some of my friends' research, I know that video tracking and digitization are possible, perhaps not to the resolution and accuracy portrayed in this film. Does tracking someone's moods equate to the concern we attribute to love? Does aligning one's actions with the will of another equate to love? In this way, did the machine love Dr. Caster when it made cutting and scraping sounds to make it easier for her to eat?
Duty Maybe I'm getting tired of writing this and maybe you're getting tired of reading it. I don't know why I put duty on here but I guess I was thinking of marital duty. Until death do us part? What is a wife's obligation if she has the technology to transcend her husband? How long should she nurture his/its needs? This is where immortality gets sticky.
Work-life-balance I will close with this idea. The female lead character seems increasingly worn down as the machine grows in power, it starts to consume her entire life. It follows her everywhere. It can give her anything. The balance in her life has vanished and she runs away, turning on her creation. She does not survive it, in the classical sense, because her body dies. But somewhere perhaps her consciousness lives on.
