The movie A.I. was a great movie to deal with the controversial aspects of Artificial Intelligence. In the movie the Mechas (mechanical robots) were different from the Orgos (organic people). The differentiating factor between the two beings was that Orgos are real. They had real experiences of feelings such as pain and they also had consciousness. The Mecha named David was the main character who was built to represent a real boy. He was built with pain receptors and other receptors but he was not considered a real boy. He did not function in the same way humans would. For example, at the dinner table David was imitating the real son in the way he was eating. He wanted Monica to love him as a real boy and when he ate food, his machinery broke down. When the programmers were fixing him, he was “awake” and said that it didn’t hurt. He was awake but is not “conscious”. He is not treated as a real boy because he is only made of machine. However, Monica treats him as if he were real. She makes the excuse that David was jealous of the other son. However, machines can’t feel or experience jealousy according to Searle.
David is one of a kind or the 1st one of his kind. He does not have a birthday or a death time. He is an immortal being in comparison to Monica who tells him she expects to live for 50 years. When Monica abandons him, David believes that it is because she doesn’t love him because he is not a real boy in part of the fact that he cannot “die”. He goes on a journey to find the Blue Fairy like in Pinocchio to make him into a real boy.
The movie touches upon the nature of existence in the way “realness” is perceived. Also it touches upon the line between man and technology. We see that in the relationship between David and Monica as a kind of mother and son relationship. Then we also see it in the end of the movie where many decades later all there is are synthetic beings. Mankind seemed to be overruled by technology. It allowed us to ask similar questions we ask in class such as, “If we replaced every part of our bodies with synthetic materials, would we still be conscious?” “Does syntax allow for semantics?” “Are robots just machines or do they have some special quality that makes them.” There were no answers to any of these questions but the movie brought many topics for people to ponder over.
Tricia - Thanks for this thoughtful post. I agree the movie doesn't answer any of the questions that you mention. It certainly does raise them in a thought-provoking manner, though. It's particularly interesting to think about how these questions are probed in the context of the issue of prejudice and discrimination.
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