Artificial Intelligence (abrv. AI, A.I.) – the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.
Start at around 0:40 seconds.
Artificial intelligence is a relatively new concept that scientists and the general public alike have struggled with. Considering the fact that the ability of a piece of advanced machinery to act autonomously is only something humans have just been able to accomplish, the ethics behind AI is a huge grey area. Ava, the AI in Ex Machina, can be programmed to accommodate an individual’s personality, even going as far as to include their sexual preferences. Ava is able to manipulate Caleb into developing an emotional attachment to her. Even though he knows she is not living, he ends up feeling bad for Ava and the isolated, solitary state she is forced to live in. This type of AI is very dangerous because it is able to process emotion and can even be targeted toward an individual’s specific tendencies. In other words, if an individual has a fear, weakness, phobia or other behavioral tendency, the AI has a huge degree of leverage over that individual.
Ex Machina is a great example of AI in the most extreme case, and when compared to Sony’s AIBO, the robotic dog really does just seem like a toy. The main difference is what is described in the film as the Turing test. The Turing test is successfully completed when a person is unable to distinguish a machine’s answers from those of a real, living human. At this point the machine would be regarded as having artificial intelligence. This is exactly the level of unpredictability that Turkle refers to in her chapter on Sony’s AIBO.
Most users of AIBO enjoy it because it is consistent in it’s emotion responses, and will repeat the exact same reactions based if exposed to the same stimuli. It is in the classical sense of the word, a robot. On the other hand, a certain degree of ‘realness’ is ascertained when AI gets to the advanced stage such that is Ava. Ava is capable of reading micro-expressions in the face which indicate emotion in the same way a person would. When AI becomes smart to enough to learn language fluently, to have a sense of self and of others, a whole new can of worms is opened. It is no longer a novelty but a semi-sentient being, which requires a new code of ethics to be introduced, one that is yet to be developed. In my opinion, super-intelligent AI will become dangerous when it is more widely available. When the day comes that private individuals can purchase a robot that can interact and behave like a human, I can only imagine the kinds of foul-play that could go on…