Film Clip (143)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
FILTERreset filters-
- 14 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Will Caster and his wife Evelyn work together on a project known as “Transcendence,” in which he hopes to help artificial intelligence attain singularity by figuring out how to pair sentience with its massive intelligence. After he is shot dead by an anti-technology terrorist group, his consciousness is uploaded virtually, allowing him to continue his life as a coded program. After this digitally immortal consciousness is paired with the internet, Will’s powers grow immensely, and his manipulative reach becomes global.
- Kinolab
- 2014
Will, Evelyn, and Max Part I: Digital Resurrection and Incorporation
Will Caster and his wife Evelyn work together on a project known as “Transcendence,” in which he hopes to help artificial intelligence attain singularity by figuring out how to pair sentience with its massive intelligence. After he is shot dead by an anti-technology terrorist group, his consciousness is uploaded virtually, allowing him to continue his life as a coded program. After this digitally immortal consciousness is paired with the internet, Will’s powers grow immensely, and his manipulative reach becomes global.
Are digitally uploaded consciousnesses technically the real person, or just an imitation? Should digital immortality be allowed if it means digital humans may have far more power than living humans? If people become able to upload consciousnesses, how should they be kept from abusing vast networks? If or when technology reaches the singularity point, how should this be regulated, and how can it be ensured that such powerful technology is not abused for hegemonic purposes?
-
- 9 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Will Caster is an artificial intelligence scientist whose consciousness his wife Evelyn uploaded to the internet after his premature death. Dr. Caster used his access to the internet to grant himself vast intelligence, creating a technological utopia called Brightwood in the desert to get enough solar power to develop cutting-edge digital projects. Specifically, he uses nanotechnology to cure fatal or longtime inflictions on people, inserting tiny robots into their bodies to help cells recover. However, it is soon revealed that these nanorobots stay inside their human hosts, allowing Will to project his consciousness into them and generally control them, along with other inhuman traits.
- Kinolab
- 2014
Will, Evelyn, and Max Part II: Medical Nanotechnology and Networked Humans
Will Caster is an artificial intelligence scientist whose consciousness his wife Evelyn uploaded to the internet after his premature death. Dr. Caster used his access to the internet to grant himself vast intelligence, creating a technological utopia called Brightwood in the desert to get enough solar power to develop cutting-edge digital projects. Specifically, he uses nanotechnology to cure fatal or longtime inflictions on people, inserting tiny robots into their bodies to help cells recover. However, it is soon revealed that these nanorobots stay inside their human hosts, allowing Will to project his consciousness into them and generally control them, along with other inhuman traits.
Should nanotechnology be used for medical purposes if it can easily be abused to take away the autonomy of the host? How can use of nanotechnology avoid this critical pitfall? How can seriously injured people consent to such operations in a meaningful way? What are the implications of nanotechnology being used to create technological or real-life underclasses? Should human brains ever be networked to each other, or to any non-human device, especially one that has achieved singularity?
-
- 7 min
- Kinolab
- 1968
Dr. Dave Bowman and Dr. Frank Poole are two astronauts on the mission Discovery to Jupiter. They are joined by HAL, an artificial intelligence machine named after the most recent iteration of his model, the HAL 9000 computer. HAL is seen as just another member of the crew based upon his ability to carry conversations with the other astronauts and his responsibilities for keeping the crew safe.
- Kinolab
- 1968
HAL Part I: AI Camaraderie and Conversation
Dr. Dave Bowman and Dr. Frank Poole are two astronauts on the mission Discovery to Jupiter. They are joined by HAL, an artificial intelligence machine named after the most recent iteration of his model, the HAL 9000 computer. HAL is seen as just another member of the crew based upon his ability to carry conversations with the other astronauts and his responsibilities for keeping the crew safe.
Should humans count on AI entirely to help keep them safe in dangerous situations or environments? Do you agree with Dave’s assessment that one can “never tell” if an AI has real feelings? What counts as “real feelings”? Even if HAL’s human tendencies follow a line of programming, does this make them less real?
-
- 8 min
- Kinolab
- 2019
Chris is a ride-share driver who has taken passenger Jaden hostage, with the conditions of release being that he is connected with Billy Bauer, the CEO of social media company Smithereen, for a conversation. While the London police attempt to deal with the situation through negotiation, the management team at Smithereen uses several data mining techniques, including analysis of Chris’s various social media pages and audio data streaming from his device, to provide the police with a valuable and complete profile on Chris.
- Kinolab
- 2019
Social Media Data and Cooperation with Law Enforcement
Chris is a ride-share driver who has taken passenger Jaden hostage, with the conditions of release being that he is connected with Billy Bauer, the CEO of social media company Smithereen, for a conversation. While the London police attempt to deal with the situation through negotiation, the management team at Smithereen uses several data mining techniques, including analysis of Chris’s various social media pages and audio data streaming from his device, to provide the police with a valuable and complete profile on Chris.
Are things said on social media fair game for law enforcement to use against a person? Does this include data that a user might not even know a company has gathered on them? How might “abstractions” of a user formed by a social media company be misused to make a bad judgement about a person? Should social media information and profiles of users made by companies be used in attempts to stop crime or criminals before any wrongdoings are committed? What are the dangers of big data companies having a close relationship with law enforcement?
-
- 12 min
- Kinolab
- 1968
See HAL Part I for further context. In this narrative, astronauts Dave and Frank begin to suspect that the AI which runs their ship, HAL, is malfunctioning and must be shut down. While they try to hide this conversation from HAL, he becomes aware of their plan anyway and attempts to protect himself so that the Discovery mission in space is not jeopardized. He does so by causing chaos on the ship, leveraging his connections to an internet of things to place the crew in danger. Eventually, Dave proceeds with his plan to shut HAL down, despite HAL’s protestations and desire to stay alive.
- Kinolab
- 1968
HAL Part II: Vengeful AI, Digital Murder, and System Failures
See HAL Part I for further context. In this narrative, astronauts Dave and Frank begin to suspect that the AI which runs their ship, HAL, is malfunctioning and must be shut down. While they try to hide this conversation from HAL, he becomes aware of their plan anyway and attempts to protect himself so that the Discovery mission in space is not jeopardized. He does so by causing chaos on the ship, leveraging his connections to an internet of things to place the crew in danger. Eventually, Dave proceeds with his plan to shut HAL down, despite HAL’s protestations and desire to stay alive.
Can AI have lives of their own which humans should respect? Is it considered “murder” if a human deactivates an AI against their will, even if this “will” to live is programmed by another human? What are the ethical implications of removing the “high brain function” of an AI and leaving just the rote task programming? Is this a form of murder too? How can secrets be kept private from an AI, especially if people fail to understand all the capabilities of the machine?
-
- 10 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
Cassius “Cash” Green is a telemarketer who is taught to harness his “white voice,” which essentially means to exude privilege, in order to reach success. While this does eventually earn him upward mobility within the corporation RegalView, an owner of the controversial labor-contracting company WorryFree, his new status begins to conflict with his friends’ unionized protest efforts against the corporation.
- Kinolab
- 2018
Identity and Mobility in a Techno-capitalist Economy
Cassius “Cash” Green is a telemarketer who is taught to harness his “white voice,” which essentially means to exude privilege, in order to reach success. While this does eventually earn him upward mobility within the corporation RegalView, an owner of the controversial labor-contracting company WorryFree, his new status begins to conflict with his friends’ unionized protest efforts against the corporation.
Have corporations become more or less adept at image control in the digital age? Does the common laborer have any more of a voice than they did before digital communication channels? How might the “white voice” be interpreted as commentary on how digital communication channels allow one to act in a completely different identity, no matter how false it is?