Promotion of Human Values (142)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 8 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
In this extreme imagination of social media, detectives Karin Parke and Blue Coulson try to discover the correlation between two recent deaths. They first interrogate a teacher who posted “#DeathTo @JoPowersWriter” along with a photo of controversial journalist Jo Powers on the day before Jo was found dead. The teacher discusses the popularity of this message and the hashtag, sharing that an entire online community split the cost of sending Jo a hateful message on a cake. Later on, the detectives discover that these deaths were determined by bots and the trending of the #DeathTo, and that whichever name had the most hits under this hashtag were hunted down and killed by a mysterious force.
- Kinolab
- 2016
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- 8 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
Social Media Trends and Hive Mind Justice
In this extreme imagination of social media, detectives Karin Parke and Blue Coulson try to discover the correlation between two recent deaths. They first interrogate a teacher who posted “#DeathTo @JoPowersWriter” along with a photo of controversial journalist Jo Powers on the day before Jo was found dead. The teacher discusses the popularity of this message and the hashtag, sharing that an entire online community split the cost of sending Jo a hateful message on a cake. Later on, the detectives discover that these deaths were determined by bots and the trending of the #DeathTo, and that whichever name had the most hits under this hashtag were hunted down and killed by a mysterious force.
How does this relate to the phenomenon of “cancel culture” in the real world? How can buzzwords commonly used online translate poorly into real life? How can digital social media be re-imagined so that users are less susceptible to “trends” started by bots? Is there a possibility that social media might give too much power or too high of a platform to the general population?
Black Mirror: Liza's Cake-
- 7 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Matt tells Joe Potter about how he used to train uploaded consciousnesses to take care of people’s homes. After somebody’s brain is copied and uploaded onto a cookie, the copy is often unwilling to perform the menial tasks asked of them. However, once the consciousness is inside the “cookie,” time can be manipulated however the real people see fit in order to coerce cooperation for the coded digital consciousness.
- Kinolab
- 2014
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- 7 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Repetitive Code as a Menial Laborer
Matt tells Joe Potter about how he used to train uploaded consciousnesses to take care of people’s homes. After somebody’s brain is copied and uploaded onto a cookie, the copy is often unwilling to perform the menial tasks asked of them. However, once the consciousness is inside the “cookie,” time can be manipulated however the real people see fit in order to coerce cooperation for the coded digital consciousness.
Can we upload consciousness in order to make our lives easier? How do we ethically treat a digital consciousness? How can digital beings be put to good use in our lives? As AI potentially become more humanoid, is it justifiable to continue assigning them long repetitive tasks?
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- 6 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
In this episode, Matt and Joe Potter, who inhabit the same cabin, tell each other short stories from their lives. Eventually, Joe Potter reveals that he killed his former father in law, and shortly after became responsible for the murdered man’s granddaughter freezing to death in the snow. Once he confesses this crime, it is revealed that Joe Potter is actually a digital consciousness trapped inside a virtual reality manipulated by Matt, designed in order to get his murder confession. Now having given a clear confession, his digital consciousness is sentenced to live inside a virtual reality, existing in nothingness for thousands of years.
- Kinolab
- 2014
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- 6 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Digital Interrogation and Torture Methods
In this episode, Matt and Joe Potter, who inhabit the same cabin, tell each other short stories from their lives. Eventually, Joe Potter reveals that he killed his former father in law, and shortly after became responsible for the murdered man’s granddaughter freezing to death in the snow. Once he confesses this crime, it is revealed that Joe Potter is actually a digital consciousness trapped inside a virtual reality manipulated by Matt, designed in order to get his murder confession. Now having given a clear confession, his digital consciousness is sentenced to live inside a virtual reality, existing in nothingness for thousands of years.
How can virtual reality be abused? If law enforcement come to use virtual reality as an interrogation technique, what should the rules and regulations be? Is it ethical to administer such interrogation or torture techniques unknowingly on any criminal, no matter how egregious their crime?
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- 13 min
- Kinolab
- 2013
In this episode, Victoria wakes up with no memory of who she is in a post-apocalyptic scenario. She is chased and hunted by weapon-toting masked people, and gets no help from the bystanders who record her horrific struggle for survival on their smartphones. Eventually, it is revealed that this scenario is an engineered reality. While the digital technologies present here are limited, this narrative stands as an effective metaphor to study the phenomenon of “cancel culture” and other ways in which digital technologies alienate the humanity of others.
- Kinolab
- 2013
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- 13 min
- Kinolab
- 2013
Fascination and Desensitization through Digital Technologies
In this episode, Victoria wakes up with no memory of who she is in a post-apocalyptic scenario. She is chased and hunted by weapon-toting masked people, and gets no help from the bystanders who record her horrific struggle for survival on their smartphones. Eventually, it is revealed that this scenario is an engineered reality. While the digital technologies present here are limited, this narrative stands as an effective metaphor to study the phenomenon of “cancel culture” and other ways in which digital technologies alienate the humanity of others.
Do smartphones and their recording capabilities make people less sensitive to events or phenomena which they capture? How do digital news channels or platforms sensationalize bad people, especially criminals or other wrong-doers, and inspire collective hatred? How can digital technologies be designed to be more empathetic? Why is it so easy to criticize others over digital channels?
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- 12 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
Cooper, a world traveller whose father recently died of Alzheimer’s disease, is payed to play-test a virtual reality game in which a brain-computer interface will be inserted through his neck in order to place his consciousness into a horror scenario in which he is plagued by his deepest fears. After several terrifying vignettes, he begins to lose all of his memories, mirroring his ultimate concern of succumbing to Alzheimer’s like his father and continuing to ignore or forget his mother. After this, he appears to be rescued by the game’s managers, but the truth of his real-life situation is later revealed to be far more gruesome.
- Kinolab
- 2016
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- 12 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
Personalized and Occupational Dangers of Digital Realities
Cooper, a world traveller whose father recently died of Alzheimer’s disease, is payed to play-test a virtual reality game in which a brain-computer interface will be inserted through his neck in order to place his consciousness into a horror scenario in which he is plagued by his deepest fears. After several terrifying vignettes, he begins to lose all of his memories, mirroring his ultimate concern of succumbing to Alzheimer’s like his father and continuing to ignore or forget his mother. After this, he appears to be rescued by the game’s managers, but the truth of his real-life situation is later revealed to be far more gruesome.
Is it ethical to use human subjects to test digital games or realities involving personal psychological processes? What might some alternatives be? How can the safety of subjects be ensured? How can scientists ensure brain-computer interfaces are safe before trying them out on human brains? Can this ever be done ethically? How could technology which mines ones deepest psychological fears be used or abused outside of entertainment purposes?
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- 13 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
Kelly and Yorkie, two women near death in the real world, meet and start a relationship with one another in San Junipero, a virtual reality program which hosts both “visitors” (older living people who spend small increments of time within) and “residents” (humans who have died and have had their consciousness uploaded to the cloud). The program is accessed via a brain-computer interface, which allows the humans to alter their own appearance and the appearance of the town according to their wishes. Once it is revealed that Yorkie plans to pass away and upload her consciousness into San Junipero permanently, Kelly is faced with a hard choice.
- Kinolab
- 2016
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- 13 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
Afterlives and Liberation in Digital Utopias
Kelly and Yorkie, two women near death in the real world, meet and start a relationship with one another in San Junipero, a virtual reality program which hosts both “visitors” (older living people who spend small increments of time within) and “residents” (humans who have died and have had their consciousness uploaded to the cloud). The program is accessed via a brain-computer interface, which allows the humans to alter their own appearance and the appearance of the town according to their wishes. Once it is revealed that Yorkie plans to pass away and upload her consciousness into San Junipero permanently, Kelly is faced with a hard choice.
How do digital worlds and platforms allow people a space for self-exploration and liberation that might not be possible in the real world? What are the positive outcomes of people being able to shape their identity as they please in digital worlds, especially as it relates to marginalized identities such as people in the LGBTQIA+ community? If digital immortality is to become a reality, how should it be presented/regulated? How should its creators avoid it becoming a sort of “trap”? Given the various secular and religious views on the afterlife, how could an agreed vision of a digital afterlife be reached?