Film Clip (143)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
FILTERreset filters-
- 4 min
- Kinolab
- 2020
In this imagined future, citizens interact with the world and with each other through brain-computer interface devices which augment reality in ways such as sending each other visual messages or changing one’s appearance at a moment’s notice. Additionally, with this device, everyone can automatically see a “ranking” of other people, in which Alphas or As are the best and Epsilons or Es are the worst. With all of these features of the devices, privacy in its many forms is all but outlawed in this society.
- Kinolab
- 2020
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- 4 min
- Kinolab
- 2020
Augmented Communication and a Post-Privacy Era
In this imagined future, citizens interact with the world and with each other through brain-computer interface devices which augment reality in ways such as sending each other visual messages or changing one’s appearance at a moment’s notice. Additionally, with this device, everyone can automatically see a “ranking” of other people, in which Alphas or As are the best and Epsilons or Es are the worst. With all of these features of the devices, privacy in its many forms is all but outlawed in this society.
How can brain-computer interfaces work together with virtual reality to enable us to share images, styles, and other information to our friends more seamlessly? What if humans could also implement VR into our communications? Would that improve interactions? How could deception sneak into this system? How do social media quantifications, such as a number of likes or followers, act as a sort of preliminary “ranking” for a person, and how does this affect people’s opportunities? Have social media and other digital media platforms conditioned society to see a lack of privacy as the norm, and conversely privacy as a sort of vice? How should we continue to value privacy in the age of social media monopolies?
Brave New World: Picking Outfits-
- 9 min
- Kinolab
- 2002
In the year 2054, the PreCrime police program is about to go national. At PreCrime, three clairvoyant humans known as “PreCogs” are able to forecast future murders by streaming audiovisual data which provides the surrounding details of the crime, including the names of the victims and perpetrators. Although there are no cameras, the implication is that anyone can be under constant surveillance by this program. Once the “algorithm” has gleaned enough data about the future crime, officers move out to stop the murder before it happens. In this narrative, the PreCrime program is audited, and the officers must explain the ethics and philosophies at play behind their systems. After captain John Anderton is accused of a future crime, he flees, and learns of “minority reports,” or instances of disagreement between the Precogs covered up by the department to make the justice system seem infallible.
- Kinolab
- 2002
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- 9 min
- Kinolab
- 2002
Trusting Machines and Variable Outcomes
In the year 2054, the PreCrime police program is about to go national. At PreCrime, three clairvoyant humans known as “PreCogs” are able to forecast future murders by streaming audiovisual data which provides the surrounding details of the crime, including the names of the victims and perpetrators. Although there are no cameras, the implication is that anyone can be under constant surveillance by this program. Once the “algorithm” has gleaned enough data about the future crime, officers move out to stop the murder before it happens. In this narrative, the PreCrime program is audited, and the officers must explain the ethics and philosophies at play behind their systems. After captain John Anderton is accused of a future crime, he flees, and learns of “minority reports,” or instances of disagreement between the Precogs covered up by the department to make the justice system seem infallible.
What are the problems with taking the results of computer algorithms as infallible or entirely objective? How are such systems prone to bias, especially when two different algorithms might make two different predictions? Is there any way that algorithms could possibly make the justice system more fair? How might humans inflect the results of a predictive crime algorithm in order to serve themselves? Does technology, especially an algorithm such as a crime predictor, need to be made more transparent to its users and the general public so that people do not trust it with a religious sort of fervor?
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- 11 min
- Kinolab
- 1982
Roy Batty is a rogue humanoid android, known as a “replicant,” who escaped his position as an unpaid laborer in a space colony and now lives among humans on Earth. After discovering that he only has a lifespan of four years, Roy breaks into the penthouse of his creator Eldon Tyrell and implores him to find a way to prolong his life. After Tyrell refuses and lauds Roy’s advanced design, Roy kills Tyrell, despite seeing him as a sort of father figure. After fleeing from the penthouse, he is found by android bounty hunter Rick Deckard, who proceeds to chase him across the rooftops. After a short confrontation with Deckard, Roy delivers a monologue explaining his sorry state of affairs.
- Kinolab
- 1982
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- 11 min
- Kinolab
- 1982
Meaning and Duration of Android Lives
Roy Batty is a rogue humanoid android, known as a “replicant,” who escaped his position as an unpaid laborer in a space colony and now lives among humans on Earth. After discovering that he only has a lifespan of four years, Roy breaks into the penthouse of his creator Eldon Tyrell and implores him to find a way to prolong his life. After Tyrell refuses and lauds Roy’s advanced design, Roy kills Tyrell, despite seeing him as a sort of father figure. After fleeing from the penthouse, he is found by android bounty hunter Rick Deckard, who proceeds to chase him across the rooftops. After a short confrontation with Deckard, Roy delivers a monologue explaining his sorry state of affairs.
Should robots who are modeled to act like real humans be given a predetermined, short lifespan? Should robots who are modeled to act like real humans ever be expected to complete uncompensated work? How should creators of robots give their creations the opportunity to make meaning of their lives? Who is ultimately responsible to “parent” a sentient AI?
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- 13 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
“Hidden Figures” chronicles the journeys of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), three black women who worked on the space missions at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia in 1961. All three women persist against segregation and abject racism as they climb the ladder and make important contributions to the space mission. While Katherine becomes the first black woman on Al Harrison’s Space Task Group, Mary Jackson pursues her dream of becoming an engineer at NASA by petitioning to take courses at an all white school, and Dorothy Vaughan attempts to learn the programming language Fortran in order to ensure that herself and fellow human computers are not replaced by the newest IBM 7090 computer.
- Kinolab
- 2016
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- 13 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
Hidden Figures Part I: Goals of Equity and Women of Color in the Workplace
“Hidden Figures” chronicles the journeys of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), three black women who worked on the space missions at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia in 1961. All three women persist against segregation and abject racism as they climb the ladder and make important contributions to the space mission. While Katherine becomes the first black woman on Al Harrison’s Space Task Group, Mary Jackson pursues her dream of becoming an engineer at NASA by petitioning to take courses at an all white school, and Dorothy Vaughan attempts to learn the programming language Fortran in order to ensure that herself and fellow human computers are not replaced by the newest IBM 7090 computer.
How is the history of the oppression of Black people in America responsible for a lack of diversity in workplaces, including those involving science and technology in the present? What do technology companies in the current day need to consider in order to ensure that their workforce is diverse and equitable? What does the specific case of Dorothy being initially denied access to the Fortran book reveal about the past and present accessibility of minority groups to fluency in digital technologies? What needs to happen inside of and outside of the technology industry to ensure better opportunities for women of color in technology-focused workplaces?
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- 12 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
“Hidden Figures” chronicles the journeys of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), three black women who worked on the space missions at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia in 1961. All three women persist against segregation and abject racism as they climb the ladder and make important contributions to the space mission. While Katherine becomes the first black woman on Al Harrison’s Space Task Group, Mary Jackson pursues her dream of becoming an engineer at NASA by petitioning to take courses at an all white school, and Dorothy Vaughan attempts to learn the programming language Fortran in order to ensure that herself and fellow human computers are not replaced by the newest IBM 7090 computer.
- Kinolab
- 2016
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- 12 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
Hidden Figures Part II: Goals of Equity and Women of Color in the Workplace
“Hidden Figures” chronicles the journeys of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), three black women who worked on the space missions at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia in 1961. All three women persist against segregation and abject racism as they climb the ladder and make important contributions to the space mission. While Katherine becomes the first black woman on Al Harrison’s Space Task Group, Mary Jackson pursues her dream of becoming an engineer at NASA by petitioning to take courses at an all white school, and Dorothy Vaughan attempts to learn the programming language Fortran in order to ensure that herself and fellow human computers are not replaced by the newest IBM 7090 computer.
How is the history of the oppression of Black people in America responsible for a lack of diversity in workplaces, including those involving science and technology in the present? What do technology companies in the current day need to consider in order to ensure that their workforce is diverse and equitable? What does the specific case of Dorothy being initially denied access to the Fortran book reveal about the past and present accessibility of minority groups to fluency in digital technologies? What needs to happen inside of and outside of the technology industry to ensure better opportunities for women of color in technology-focused workplaces? What role does implicit bias play in all of these considerations?
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- 14 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
In the midst of World War II, mathematics prodigy Alan Turing is hired by the British government to help decode Enigma, the code used by Germans in their encrypted messages. Turing builds an expensive machine meant to help decipher the code in a mathematical manner, but the lack of speedy results incites the anger of his fellow coders and the British government. After later being arrested for public indecency, Turing discusses with the officer the basis for the modern “Turing Test,” or how to tell if one is interacting with a human or a machine. Turing argues that although machines think differently than humans, it should still be considered a form of thinking. His work displayed in this film became a basis of the modern computer.
- Kinolab
- 2014
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- 14 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Decryption and Machine Thinking
In the midst of World War II, mathematics prodigy Alan Turing is hired by the British government to help decode Enigma, the code used by Germans in their encrypted messages. Turing builds an expensive machine meant to help decipher the code in a mathematical manner, but the lack of speedy results incites the anger of his fellow coders and the British government. After later being arrested for public indecency, Turing discusses with the officer the basis for the modern “Turing Test,” or how to tell if one is interacting with a human or a machine. Turing argues that although machines think differently than humans, it should still be considered a form of thinking. His work displayed in this film became a basis of the modern computer.
How did codebreaking help launch computers? What was Alan Turing’s impact on computing, and on the outcome of WW2? How can digital technologies be used to turn the tides for the better in a war? Are computers in our age too advanced for codes to be secret for long, and is this a positive or a negative? How do machines think? Should a machines intelligence be judged by the same standards as human intelligence?