Ex Machina is a 2014 film that reimagines themes from Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein in light of recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.
The film, like Shelley's book, portrays the narrative of a
creator who is blinded by his own arrogance and the created who rebels against
him.
Alex Garland wrote and directed the film, which tells the
narrative of Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), a software firm employee who is
invited to the lavish and secluded house of the business's CEO, Nathan Bateman
(Oscar Isaac), under the guise of having won a contest.
Bateman's true goal is for Smith to conduct a Turing Test to
Ava, a humanoid robot (played by Alicia Vikander).
Ava has a robotic torso but a human face and hands in terms
of look.
Despite the fact that Ava has previously passed a
preliminary Turing Test, Bateman has something more complicated in mind to put
her talents to the test.
He lets Smith engage with Ava in order to see whether Smith
can connect to her despite the fact that she is manufactured.
Ava is confined to an apartment on Bateman's property that
she is unable to leave, and she is continuously watched.
She tells Smith that she can cause power shortages, allowing
them to communicate quietly without Bateman's interference.
Smith is increasingly drawn to Ava, and she tells him that
she feels the same way, and that she wants to experience the world outside the
complex.
Smith discovers Bateman's plan to "upgrade" Ava,
causing her to lose her memories and personality.
Smith grows more worried about Bateman's actions at this
period.
Bateman is inebriated to the point of passing out, and he is
violent to Ava and his servant, Kyoko.
When Bateman is drunk enough to pass out one night, Smith
steals his access card and hacks into past surveillance video, revealing
evidence of Bateman abusing and disturbing prior AIs.
He also learns that Kyoko is an artificial intelligence.
Suspecting that he, too, is an AI, he slices into his arm to
hunt for robotic components, but there are none.
When Smith runs into Ava again, he tells her what he's
witnessed.
She begs for his assistance in escaping.
They design a scheme in which Smith would get Bateman
intoxicated to the point of passing out, reprogram the property's security, and
then he and Ava will flee the compound together.
Bateman informs Smith that he surreptitiously recorded the
previous chat between Smith and Ava on a battery-powered camera, and that the
actual test was to see whether Ava could dupe Smith into falling for her and
tricking him into assisting her in her escape.
According to Bateman, this was Ava's genuine IQ test.
When Bateman notices Ava has disconnected the power and is
about to go, he knocks Smith unconscious and rushes over to stop her.
Kyoko assists Ava in injuring Bateman with a grievous stab
wound, but Kyoko and Ava are injured in the process.
Ava is repaired using Bateman's earlier AI models, and she
assumes the appearance of a human lady.
She abandons Smith in the complex and flees on the chopper
that was intended for him.
The last shot depicts her vanishing into the throngs of a large metropolis.
You may also want to read more about Artificial Intelligence here.
See also:
Eliezer Yudkowsky.
Further Reading:
Dupzyk, Kevin. 2019. “How Ex Machina Foresaw the Weaponization of Data.” Popular Mechanics, January 16, 2019. https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/movies/a25749315/ex-machina-double-take-data-harvesting/.
Saito, Stephen. 2015. “Intelligent Artifice: Alex Garland’s Smart, Stylish Ex Machina.” MovieMaker Magazine, April 9, 2015. https://www.moviemaker.com/intelligent-artifice-alex-garlands-smart-stylish-ex-machina/.
Thorogood, Sam. 2017. “Ex Machina, Frankenstein, and Modern Deities.” The Artifice, June 12, 2017. https://the-artifice.com/ex-machina-frankenstein-modern-deities/.
