Ex Machina

I love robots and, I love films and television shows about artificial intelligence. Last year, I became a fan of a television series called “Humans“. It stared Gemma Chen and it reminded me of a movie I saw last year. Is it possible for a robot to surpass humans? Would they also exhibit a will to survive?  

I was especially interested in watching Ex Machina because I have a similar plot going on with one of my characters in my Roof Oasis Sci-fi, apocalyptic series, but we’ll talk about her at the end of this film review. Ex Machina is a British science fiction thriller written and directed by author & screenwriter, Alex Garland. The film stars Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander and Oscar Isaac.

Plot

Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), a computer programmer working for the world’s most popular search engine company is chosen in a company lottery to meet and assist the company’s CEO, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac).  The quiet and reserved Caleb is flown to the CEO’s secluded mountain hideaway to assist in a project.

Everything is about the project is top secret and to move through Nathan’s home, Caleb has to use a swipe card. There is only one other person there, a young Japanese woman named Kyoko (Sonoya Mizuno) that Nathan speaks to in a disrespectful manner.

Nathan is a cocky genius who spends most of his time lifting weights and getting drunk.  Nathan wants Caleb to perform the Turing test on a humanoid robot named Ava (Alicia Vikander). The Turing test is used to research a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from that of a human. Would Ava be able to generate enough human-like responses to pass the test?

Conclusion

Over the next few days Caleb gradually develops a friendship with Ava who is exhibiting real human emotions. During one of the sessions Ava asks Caleb what will happen if she fails the test. Ava wants to survive, but if she fails the test, her memories will be erased and a new and improved artificial version will take her place.

I won’t go any further with this review because I’m hoping you can catch this film on cable or Netflix. The premise of Ex Machina is thought provoking and, I find myself connecting the consequences of cloning and artificial intelligence. Cloning and humanoid robots are both possibilities that can create a moral dilemma that must be dealt with by the Supreme Court.

What rights will cloned people have in a society that wants them only for their body parts? What rights do humanoid robots have after they’ve been given the ability to think and feel emotions just like a human? The human race has failed miserably in caring for the fauna and flora that share this world with us. We have shown a callous lack of concern for fellow humans in the wars that we wage. Do you really believe we would do better with a cloned person?

What would happen to us if machines evolved past the three laws of robotics? In my Roof Oasis apocalyptic series, there is a robotic character named Patty that started out as a child’s companion, but by the third book in the series Patty is now exhibiting actions that deal with this very question. When we take on the role of creator with either clones or intelligent robots, we face the reality that our creations might consider us, primitive and prime candidates for extinction.

The first three books of my Roof Oasis Series: Roof Oasis, Saving Solanda and Beware the Harvesters can be purchased on Amazon and Kindle.