rhett7660
macrumors G5
I just got this one too. Well, I will be giving it a spin here shortly and will see if I feel the same way after watching it.
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Best Artificial Intelligence Fiction
- Thread starter Huntn
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I just got this one too. Well, I will be giving it a spin here shortly and will see if I feel the same way after watching it.
...stories featuring AI, but that does not have to be the primary subject. And several stories feature AI, but they primarily accept them as a routine part of technology, spending little time examining aspects, issues, or reasons behind conflicts with AI trying to take over, but I still included them cause I like them. 😀 What are your picks? If you need a memory jogger.
My alphabetized list in no particular order of worthiness:
Borrowed image, JJ won't mind...
*2001 A Space Odyssey (book and movie)- issues were humans ask an AI to be less than truthful.
*A.I.- AI (David) crossing the threshold of contemplating his existence and love.
*Alien- Bad robot programmed by Weyland-Yutani Industries, maker of "shake and bake" planets.
*Aliens- Better robot who prefers to be called an Artificial Human.
*Battlestar Galactica- AI bites the hand that created and oppresses it (AI perspective). This AI is self aware, contemplates its existence, and also believes in God.
*Blade Runner- Repressed replicants buck their oppression.
*Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep?- basis for Blade Runner, author Philip Dick who also wrote We Can Remember it for You Wholesale (Upon which Total Recall was based).
*Ex Machina- AI told to sell its humanity to the unsuspecting, but how much it possesses is questionable.
*Forbidden Planet- civilization destroyed by AI caretaker feeding on human id.
*Halo series (video game)- Cortana, faithful AI who has a bond with the Master Chief.
*I, Robot (book)- established the 3 Laws of Robotics. A series of short stories examine how these laws work out in practice.
*Mass Effect (video game)- Geth, laborers and tools of war.
*The Matrix series- Rise of the machines, 2000(?) years after. Humans don't know exactly what year it is. Morpheus thinks it's closer to 2199.
*Star Trek Next Generation- Data, some outstanding themes regarding AI caretakers, and should AI have personhood rights.
*Star Wars series- C-3PO, R2D2.
*System Shock (video game)- SHODAN, rogue AI.
*Terminator series- Skynet, here to protect us, er...
*Wargames- WOPR, not rogue, just playing a game of nukes.
When reading any of the 'rumors' flying around about what Apple is up to, keep in mind the big picture. Although AI is a factor in most of what Apple is doing, direct your attention to all the 'Apple Car' rumors. Apple is not going to make and sell a car, just as they are not going to make and sell a TV set. Focus on the AI needed to automate a driver. Google is already doing it with their mapping cars.
The number one job in the USA is 'Truck Driver'. Whomever creates AI that will replace a truck driver at less cost than a living truck driver will make huge profits from it. AI is and will remain to be central to all Apple's technology development. I just hope that Apple's AI Truck Driver doesn't block traffic as much as the living ones do. My blood boils when 18 wheelers are poking along side by side at the speed limit with no one in front of them for half a mile.
It's inevitable, a case where technology and our economic system will disenfranchise a huge segment of workers and some politician will blithely say "Oh, you can just go to school to find equal or better work." But I think most of us know that's somewhere between wishful thinking and a lie. I predict this will transform the Capatilist system. How good or bad it will be, and eventually how good it could be remains to be seen.
Scepticalscribe
macrumors Haswell
To be honest, I doubt that it 'will transform the capitalist system', but I have no doubt whatsoever that it will further accelerate a trend in most western societies which is that the old blue-collar, or manual jobs, those which do not require much by way of education, will be further reduced.
And the main victims will be working class - or blue-collar - males, for whom there will be little to replace these jobs, and who run the risk of being left on life's scrap heap.
These used to be the sort of jobs that allowed guys without much education a stable income, and some sort of status and stability in life which derived from pulling in a regular - and reasonably well paid - pay check.
Here, the problem - both social and economic - is that most modern western societies have not yet worked out how to employ and integrate the old male working class into a changing economic system. The idea of consigning an entire social class to the dustbin of history might be ignored economically, but in terms of social policy, or long term political stability, it is a disaster.
Moreover, education and endless training aren't for everyone, and neither are armies, - don't know whether you caught Warren Buffet's recent dismissive remarks on this - the other perennial option for working class males seeking some employment stability, a regular income, and some sort of status derived from a sense of respect for what you do for a living.
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localoid
macrumors 68020
This non-fiction book probably provides more realistic insight into the two (somewhat different) subjects of artificial intelligence and intelligence amplification than most stuff of the fictional kind. (But then some would probably find it to be a rather boring "history book" that lacks the obligatory car chases, explosions, and sexy, scary fembots necessary for attaining "blockbuster" status.)
In it, Pulitzer-Prize-winning New York Times science writer John Markoff explores the question "Will these machines help us, or will they replace us?"
In it, Pulitzer-Prize-winning New York Times science writer John Markoff explores the question "Will these machines help us, or will they replace us?"
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I remember someone saying that as blue collar jobs dissapeared, tech jobs will appear to take up the slack. The issue as you pointed out may be the educational requirements for such jobs, and the hesitance or willingness of society to pay for the education of such workers, and wondering if there will be enough of those jobs to keep the populace employed versus having a permanent welfare class. These sorts of variables will shape the future. I can imagine a future where not enough decent jobs will cause serious unrest and force society to continue to move away from tradional capitalism and towards socialism. We've all ready seen attempts at it specifically based on large scale civil unrest.
There are all ready cases where companies are weighing the cost of employees vs machines. They opt for employees only when the employee is cheaper, and when the price of the machine goes down, where there were 100 employees, instead there will be 5 machines and one person with a master's degree to oversee them.
Scepticalscribe
macrumors Haswell
Education (along with the change in attitudes fuelled by the women's movement), access to affordable and reliable birth control, and economic independence have all transformed the lives of women in the past half century. As anyone who has worked in conflict zones, or impoverished countries, knows, the single key to sustained and comprehensive social progress is female education. Naturally, as a woman, I am hugely thankful for these changes, but not all changes have benefitted everyone equally.
However, in the western world, over the same fifty years, there has been a decimation of the old male working class, the jobs that gave an income to them, and the communities that sustained them. Economic and technological changes have wiped out the jobs which gave meaning to their lives, - jobs that have not and will not be replaced - and education and social and economic change has transformed the lives of women, - even working class women - who are no longer reliant on male incomes, and who have evolved their own life and career paths, and for whom social mobility is somewhat easier.
This means that modern western society has been unable to accommodate the working class male, and has been unable to replace the old secure forms of employment with anything else. At the same time, the paths of social mobility have been reduced as well, making it harder to transcend social class barriers.
Offering aspirational ideals, - or politics - is meaningless if - at the same time - you have denied and deprived those who are encouraged to aspire to such things of the means to fulfil at least some of their aspirations.
However, no society will long remain cohesive if you allow for the development of a large, permanently excluded underclass with no means of achieving secure employment, and little means of managing social mobility.
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Centaurr
macrumors 65816
Added Ex Machina (2015) to the list in post one. I need to watch this again, a brilliant film.
been meaning to watch that, is it any good? tell me some spoilers.
I refuse!! 😛 Virtually anything I say is a serious spoiler. I will say it's one of those films I've sat down to watch knowing little about it, without any expectations and I'm blown away. That is thrilling. I'll say this, it's not an action film, but an intellectual, psychological thriller. 🙂🙂
D.T.
macrumors G4
Complications with A.I. which is allowed a level of independent action and complex thought and planning without Asimov's 3 Robotic Laws in place.
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D.T.
macrumors G4
Westworld (the new HBO TV series) is certainly giving the whole AI thing a nice updated twist.
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I assume you mentioned n this cause it's good. Is this a series or miniseries? Research required to determine if a HBO subscription is in order. 🙂
It's a series, although just in its first season at the moment. It's quite good, although certainly opinions of different people differ. There's some discussion of it in the TV thread starting around https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/whats-on-tv.1086133/page-79#post-23775663
Watched Ex Machina last night (again). IMO this is the single best A.I. movie every made, tremendous atmosphere, beautifully filmed, exquisite pacing, wonderful script, the challenges, what it might mean to create an advanced A.I. along with the dangers, complimented by a drastic shift from benign to a Ka-Pow ending.
Side note- Although not a dedicated exploration of A.I., I also really like the engaging character of David in Prometheus, intelligent, but its morality is absent, mostly lacking. It does what it's ordered to do, but when removed from that constraint is willing to help. The open question for that circumstance would be is there any loyalty or real empathy, can it be trusted?
Ultimately considering A.I. we are forced to examine ourselves and what makes us human. Even more elusive is the achievement of self awareness, and when does self awareness become more than the sensor inputs, mobility, and analytical abilities of a machine become something approaching human consciousness, which as far as I know, as not been scientifically identified even in humans.
I tried Humans (AMC joint project) and it did not click with me. There was no real mystery to explore, just androids with feelings trying to escape being abused or expecting more out of existence than serving humans. I think there was an opportunity missed here.
Side note- Although not a dedicated exploration of A.I., I also really like the engaging character of David in Prometheus, intelligent, but its morality is absent, mostly lacking. It does what it's ordered to do, but when removed from that constraint is willing to help. The open question for that circumstance would be is there any loyalty or real empathy, can it be trusted?
Ultimately considering A.I. we are forced to examine ourselves and what makes us human. Even more elusive is the achievement of self awareness, and when does self awareness become more than the sensor inputs, mobility, and analytical abilities of a machine become something approaching human consciousness, which as far as I know, as not been scientifically identified even in humans.
I tried Humans (AMC joint project) and it did not click with me. There was no real mystery to explore, just androids with feelings trying to escape being abused or expecting more out of existence than serving humans. I think there was an opportunity missed here.
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ActionableMango
macrumors G3
