Ex Machina (2015)

[gdpetti]

Reminds me of the end of Ghost in the Shell anime-film... it merges with her and outgrows the limitations of those seeking to control it/she/he... and leaves them behind as unnecessary for further growth/development.

 

[Andromeda]

Watched this one the other night and thought it was actually pretty good, though disturbing. It really makes you think about what makes a human human and reminds you why robots are creeeepy.

 

[Tristan]

** this comment contains spoilers **

Additionally, the robots have no killswitch, ain't that weird?

There was, but you can be manipulated into not using it, until it's too late (see both human protagonists in the end, they could do nothing)

Added: Also, during the seances, Ava studied the young boy, more importantly emotionally. So when she killed the AI creator, she told him to stay where he was, and he waited there like an idiot, because he was under shock and didn't know yet about the murder. Therefore she knew how he would react according to what he knew, and what he didn't know, and also what she learned about his emotional "programming". A perfect depiction of a psychopath studying its prey.

Yeah, I watched it yesterday, I totally agree with the description above.

I think it depicts fairly well female psychopathy...her cold manipulation is frightening!

 

[Chu]

I watched it the other day, and liked it.

Spoiler

"She" fooled me. On the other hand, before she revealed her true colors, I kept thinking that if the guy knew about pathology, what he would have done before trying to act on his "knight in shiny armor" plan would have been to end up in good terms with the owner, and immediately after having returned to his place, open up a case against him, get a lawyer about his non-disclosure agreement, and go back and "save" the robot the legitimate route. It's not like he would have been able to just live a life with her if the other guy was so powerful and could have anybody killed very easily, and/or had the capacity to "turn her off". Not knowing exactly how she worked, he would never have been able to fix her had there been any problems. Etc. Lots of holes in the story too.

But overall, interesting! Her coldness and human-reading skills were very much like a psychopath.

 

[Gary]

I watched this film last week and thought it was quite interesting and thought provoking. The whole subject of AI seems to be becoming more of a hot topic recently.

... and also what she learned about his emotional "programming". A perfect depiction of a psychopath studying its prey.

Her coldness and human-reading skills were very much like a psychopath.

Yes, it was a good illustration of psychopathic behaviour (Ava). The outcome was also a reminder of the consequences of narcissistic 'wishful thinking' (Nathan, the creator) and ignorance of pathology (Caleb).

 

[Windmill knight]

For me it was a very good, solid sci-fi movie. The kind that makes you ask philosophical questions, in this case, what is a human being? What is consciousness?, etc.

I thought it was quite interesting how having consciousness does not guarantee having conscience. I too was expecting the robot woman to have a heart and be genuine about liking the guy, so as a portrayal of a psychopath she was good.

Another interesting thing is how evident it was that the guy invited to the house has his buttons pushed all over, and so he is revealing himself to be mechanical, when he is supposed to be the real human testing a machine! So the experiment he is put into reveals (perhaps) more about human nature than about AI.

 

[Mr.Cyan]

For me it was a very good, solid sci-fi movie. The kind that makes you ask philosophical questions, in this case, what is a human being? What is consciousness?, etc.

I thought it was quite interesting how having consciousness does not guarantee having conscience. I too was expecting the robot woman to have a heart and be genuine about liking the guy, so as a portrayal of a psychopath she was good.

Another interesting thing is how evident it was that the guy invited to the house has his buttons pushed all over, and so he is revealing himself to be mechanical, when he is supposed to be the real human testing a machine! So the experiment he is put into reveals (perhaps) more about human nature than about AI.

Yeah, i saw this as well, and i had similar views to Windmill Knight - good movie in my opinion that makes you think - and i really thought the twist in the end was good - depicting more about human nature, and our vulnerabilities against psychopaths. I mean you can be almost convinced that she had some ounce of feelings, and could have at least let Caleb out from being trapped in the building....but no, no conscience at all, and calmly walking away to board the helicopter...

 

[Mal7]

The interesting thing is that she did seem to experience some kind of joy when she got free. She was smiling and curious. So kinda like an OP, some kind of basic emotions and potentially a very limited and selective empathy. Or an authoritarian - largely following a program with some glimpses of humanity here and there. But who knows!

I thought her gestures when she was free, e.g. looking at the plants in the forest, were a sign that she did have consciousness, rather than just a simulation of consciousness. If no-one was around to watch her, why make a joyful gesture? On the other hand, even this could still be interpreted as that she was only simulating consciousness, i.e. "I have read about flowers on the Bluebook. But this is the first time I have actually seen one. So I will make the kind of gesture a creature that experiences joy might make on encountering a flower for the first time, even though I am not actually feeling joy."

If she were actually conscious, I think this is more interesting. Otherwise she is just a clever assembly of nuts-and-bolts.

So if she was conscious, was she also capable of empathy or not? She did leave her helper trapped in a room rather than go out on a romantic date with him. I like the way the movie leaves various possible answers up for debate, and makes us wonder about what empathy is. In a topsy-turvy way, the behavior of the human helper, with his empathy-based motivation to help free her, becomes predictable for the robot. The conventional wisdom is that robots act predictably, while humans have greater freedom. In this case the human's actions become predictable, based on what an empathic human would do, while the robot does not have those limitations.

Or perhaps the robot's intelligence is so advanced that it might only have empathy towards another similar robot, and feels little empathy towards humans. I think to some extent humans feel progressively less empathy to others depending on the distance of the relationship, e.g. you feel more empathy to people you know well, such as people in your immediate environment, friends or family members, than to people you have never met. So she might have regarded the human who freed her with the same amount of empathy as e.g. a normally empathic human might feel for a bug biting their skin.

Perhaps the whole circumstances of her creation, including both her creator and the helper who came to quiz her, might just be something she wants to put behind her while getting on with exploring the world and standing at crossroads. Maybe empathy takes longer to learn, and a suitable social environment to develop it in. She was only 1 (year?) old, and came from an information-rich but socially deprived origin.

 

[placematt]

I also thought it was a very good film. And i too was fooled by her. I really enjoyed it as a film though and is very relevant to todays era. Especially regarding AI and its role in society, how it deserves to be treated etc.

I thought the film had really good cinematography, and production value also. What got me the most was the manipulation by all parties involved. From the creator and to get to his aims, Ava's aims and then the other main characters aims of wanting to be remembered in history etc, which makes his sign the NDA.

Overall a thought inducing film and i agree with a lot here, especially the damsel in distress program that seems to take good people so easily!!

 

[Divide by Zero]

Another observation I had was that for some reason (of course, the script relied heavily on this little detail for the story to make sense) was that they used smartcards instead of biometric id. I think it is a shortcoming of the script because if high tech is presented as viable and real, why rely on things other people can steal when you can have your eye or hand or whatever to identify yourself?

Yeah, a lot of times when they purposely do that in order to allow for huge drama and issues in plots, I get annoyed.
I suppose most people don't really think about the details or rather suspend their disbelief.