Themes (353)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 3 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
Wade Watts lives in an imagined future in which the OASIS, a limitless virtual reality world, acts as a constant distraction from the real world for the majority of citizens. In this scene, his virtual avatar Parzival visits the Halliday Journals, a complete archive of the memories of James Halliday, the creator of the OASIS. These memories are digitized in their complete abstract form, and seem freely accessible to anyone.
- Kinolab
- 2018
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- 3 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
The Digitization of Memory and its Consequences
Wade Watts lives in an imagined future in which the OASIS, a limitless virtual reality world, acts as a constant distraction from the real world for the majority of citizens. In this scene, his virtual avatar Parzival visits the Halliday Journals, a complete archive of the memories of James Halliday, the creator of the OASIS. These memories are digitized in their complete abstract form, and seem freely accessible to anyone.
How can tech like the “cloud” be used for the storage of abstract data like consciousness and memories? What would be potential impact on human memory if memories were easily able to become fully digital? What are the dangers of intimate memories being potentially accessible to anyone in the digital world?
Ready Player One: Halliday Journals-
- 2 min
- Kinolab
- 2019
In an imagined future of London, citizens all across the globe are connected to the Feed, a device and network accessed constantly through a brain-computer interface. Tom, the son of the Feed’s creator Lawrence, realizes that his father had deleted some of his childhood memories from the device in his brain, thus Tom has lost all access to them. For further insights into technology and the nature of parent-child relationships, see the narratives “Marie and Sara Parts I and II.”
- Kinolab
- 2019
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- 2 min
- Kinolab
- 2019
Personal Control over Memories
In an imagined future of London, citizens all across the globe are connected to the Feed, a device and network accessed constantly through a brain-computer interface. Tom, the son of the Feed’s creator Lawrence, realizes that his father had deleted some of his childhood memories from the device in his brain, thus Tom has lost all access to them. For further insights into technology and the nature of parent-child relationships, see the narratives “Marie and Sara Parts I and II.”
What rights do parents have over the minds and bodies of their children? Should parents ever be able to alter the memories of their children, even if this is supposedly for their own good? What are the consequences of the externalisation of memory through digital technology? How should children be able to give consent for alterations to technological implants?
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- 17 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
Wakanda, a country founded upon a great repository of Vibranium, a natural resource used to develop cutting-edge technology, keeps itself hidden from the rest of the world to maintain its prosperity and avoid becoming a target. After one man betrays Wakanda by revealing its location in hopes that they will spread their prosperity to oppressed black people across the globe, he and his bloodline are punished severely. T’Challa, the new leader of Wakanda and the superhero known as Black Panther, is then faced with solving this dilemma between hiding away the technological prosperity of Wakanda or spreading the digital resources to disadvantaged black communities across the globe.
- Kinolab
- 2018
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- 17 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
Spreading Digital Resources and Global Inequality
Wakanda, a country founded upon a great repository of Vibranium, a natural resource used to develop cutting-edge technology, keeps itself hidden from the rest of the world to maintain its prosperity and avoid becoming a target. After one man betrays Wakanda by revealing its location in hopes that they will spread their prosperity to oppressed black people across the globe, he and his bloodline are punished severely. T’Challa, the new leader of Wakanda and the superhero known as Black Panther, is then faced with solving this dilemma between hiding away the technological prosperity of Wakanda or spreading the digital resources to disadvantaged black communities across the globe.
What is the relationship between colonialism and imperialism and current digital divides? What are the vast, far-reaching consequences of a lack of digital connection for disadvantaged communities, especially communities of color? What responsibility to digitally privileged countries have to help those communities or countries that have less access to digital resources? How can the image of the internet as a democratizing force reach reality for all communities across the globe? How often do people consider that there are considerable physical infrastructure and resource needs for digital connection? How should we approach the distribution of technology to oppressed people around the world?
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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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- 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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- 4 min
- Kinolab
- 1982
While attempting to track down humanoid robots, or “replicants”, that he must kill, Officer Rick Deckard goes to Chinatown to analyze his singular piece of evidence; a snake scale. The scale is revealed to be from an android snake crafted within Chinatown.
- Kinolab
- 1982
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- 4 min
- Kinolab
- 1982
Robotic Animals
While attempting to track down humanoid robots, or “replicants”, that he must kill, Officer Rick Deckard goes to Chinatown to analyze his singular piece of evidence; a snake scale. The scale is revealed to be from an android snake crafted within Chinatown.
Should android animals ever become too indistinguishable from their real counterparts? How might this be used for negative ends? How will engineered human and animal parts be distinguished from natural ones?