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In this episode, the panel discusses the movie Ex Machina and its exploration of the creation of sentient machines. They discuss how the portrayal of the AI character Ava's intelligence is different from that of a human. They also delve into the emotional aspects of Ava's character and how it makes her more relatable and human-like. They explore the idea of whether Ava's emotional and analytical intelligence makes her more human. Overall, the panel believes that this combination of emotions and intelligence in non-human entities will continue to develop and impact our lives. What if someone told you that for the first time in history, the fusion of emotions and advanced intellect aren't only confined to humans anymore? Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm your host, Akil Morkanda, and welcome to today's episode, Unraveling Consciousness, Humanity, and Ex Machina. Today we will be picking apart the movie Ex Machina. Released in 2015, this movie delves into the complex and ethical dimensions of creating sentient machines, and it's interesting to see how certain portrayals of AI and media have aged over time, reflecting our evolving understanding and fears of this technology. But before we dive deeper into the world of Ex Machina, let me introduce our panel today. Joining me are Alaykia, hi, Jacob, hi, and Justin, hello, each bringing their unique perspectives on the film. Together we'll explore the intricacies of intelligence, both analytical and emotional, and dissect the thought-provoking themes presented in Ex Machina, so buckle up and join us on this journey through the minds of machines on today's episode. For those of you who haven't seen this film yet, it's centered around our main character, Caleb, who is recruited to perform the Turing Test on Ava, a humanoid robot. Created by the reclusive and brilliant CEO, Nathan Bateman, Ava possesses high levels of artificial intelligence. I'd like to turn it over to the panel now and ask, is the portrayal of Ava's intelligence the same as that of a human? Well, when considering a portrayal of an AI similar to a human, you have to remember that Kyoko was believed to be human for much of the film. Ava's body is filled with wires and mechanisms. The choice to make Ava look like a robot is essential to reminding us that she is processing and analyzing like a computer would. Through her actions we get a feel for her character. The contrast between her and Kyoko make for an intellectual presence in Ava. Yeah, and on top of that, the context of Ava and Caleb's meetings are made to feel like an experiment. The use of the word session and the fact that the Turing Test is literally a test starts the movie off with an intellectual tone. Further yet, most tests conducted on an average person are to test their intellect in any given topic. That's actually a very interesting point. I never really thought of Ava's meetings as an experiment. It almost sounds like she was a guinea pig in this experiment. That's an extremely fascinating argument. However, if Ava was only analytically intelligent, what really makes her different from a search engine and a humanoid body, right? I think that the rhetorical choices to induce emotional intelligence push Ava towards a human and away from a machine. What do you guys think? I definitely think that there was a very interesting aspect of emotion that played into Ava's character. First of all, I think the human body in itself changes our perception of Ava. I mean, imagine if she didn't have a human face. Imagine if she had a metallic face just like the rest of her body. Do you think any of the characters in the movie, especially Caleb, or even the audience would connect to her character that much or empathize with her that much? Right. And her humanization continues in session three where there's a large focus on her hands. She runs her fingers through different types of wigs and moves with an uncertain grace that is very unlike a robot. The hands are primarily where you feel. So it's not unlikely that the focus on her hands was to show the viewer that she wasn't just calculating, she was feeling. I agree. In the same scene, she also actually asks Caleb to close his eyes and walk around to show them what she's wearing. And she actually says, I would wear this on our date. It's almost childlike that she's excited about how she looks and more that she's excited about what he thinks she looks like. And I think it's a very interesting play on just their relationship at that point in the movie. Another human reaction that Ava shows throughout the film is her reaction to Caleb's parents' death. Her sad tone is somewhat reminiscent of something that reminded me of R2-D2 for Star Wars. He really only communicated through beeps, but despite being far from humanoid, the expression of an emotional response makes the audience empathize with them. That's actually an interesting dig. I mean, if that's the case, what do you think the difference is between interacting with R2-D2 and maybe a pet that we have at home? That's the thing. There is no difference. Both express their feelings, and that alone is enough for us to empathize with them. Oh, definitely. And to add on to that, in the end of the movie, when Nathan actually rips Ava's hand off, you can see a sort of pain in her eyes. You can physically see the pain that she lost her hand. And I think that micro-expression is what makes Ava a very different character from a lot of androids that we've seen in a lot of other movies. Yeah, that's a great observation. So as we find out at the end of the movie, Ava has been manipulating Caleb the entire time in order to break free from her shackles. So to what extent do you guys think that Ava is able to weave together both her emotional and analytical intelligence, and does that portray her as more human? It's a great question. In session 3, Ava asks Caleb if he's attracted to her and explains why she thinks he is. While this may initially start out as an expression of emotion, her explanation is far from emotional. She points out micro-expressions and minute details that a normal person would never notice. It's hard to say whether this way of processing emotion is proof she's not feeling it, or if she's just feeling it in a way that is non-human. I'll agree that there's definitely a logical and analytical aspect, but I also see a very emotional perspective in that scene. When she walks out into the woods in the end, you can also see her feeling the experience, and just like learning how nature or trees work. And it's clearly something she's never felt or experienced before. So it's something she didn't have when she was in her prison. And you can see the idea of this novelty just reflecting in her face and her character. And the presence of this kind of emotion really makes you think if Ava is feeling or analyzing the things that she's experiencing. The perspective that we get at the end of the movie is just that, a perspective. In order for that to mean something, she has to be experiencing the world around her. I see this as a nod towards her being something more than a machine. You wouldn't watch something like ChadGBT, because when you're not interacting with it, it doesn't really matter. I agree. I mean, you connect with Ava as something so much more than, say, Alexa or a digital assistant that you have at home. You almost put yourself in her shoes, and you try to feel what she does. It's almost like you empathize with her as a human being, even though she's not actually human. Wow. These are some really great things to think about, guys. So humans, as the audience, interact with both emotional and intelligent things daily. This film is so impactful because it captures both in a non-human. The combination of these is something we haven't dealt with before, but we will definitely continue to see it develop and emerge in our day-to-day lives. Whether we hear it or embrace it is our choice, but it is axiomatic that our lives will never be the same. I'd like to thank the panel for joining us today, and to you guys for tuning in. And as always, see you next time. Thank you. Thank you so much. See you next week.