Age Of Ultron is about evil AI, and Ex Machinas about a sentient robot.
Ryan explores the link between these and other modern SF films.
So why have so many filmmakers and screenwriters got artificial intelligence on their minds?
Alex Garland, who made his directorial debut withEx Machinathis year, might have the answer.
This suggests its in the zeitgest.
Its in the air a bit.
Has there been any big breakthrough in AI?
So why is that?
And actually, were right: They do know a lot about us, and we dont understand them.
A simmering, just-below-the-surface concern about technology might explain the ambivalence displayed towards AI in recent science fiction films.
These are the kinds of thought that are manifesting themselves on the cinema screen in recent years.
But what is Ava, really?
And what about Ava?
Does she have an agenda of her own?
The unknowable nature of machine intelligence is explored in other recent sci-fi films.
Whats going on in that artificial brain?
If theyve acquired some kind of consciousness, what will they do next?
Unclear agendas could be seen as a current concern in the real world, too.
The tech giants behind our search engines, phones and browsers are multi-billion-dollar companies.
This, inevitably, led to lots of journalistsasking things like,Is Google building a robot army?
