Artificial Intelligence: AI

Released 2001
Stars Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, Sam Robards, Jake Thomas, Brendan Gleeson, William Hurt
Directed by Steven Spielberg

AI is an ambitious but flawed film about the nature of existence. It's an updated version of Pinocchio set in the distant future after the polar caps have melted due to global warming. Coastal cities around the world have been flooded, but the United States has survived. In fact, it's prospered due to its use of "mechas," which is short for mechanicals. In other words, robots. Due to limited resources, the government has had to control birth rates, which has made mechas indispensable. The movie opens with Professor Hobby (William Hurt) addressing his team of engineers at his cybernetics company, where he announces his wish to build a mecha who can genuinely love. Mechas are physically perfect, but they're emotionally stunted. Despite having self-awareness and being able to feel certain emotions, no one has been able to program a mecha to actually love another being. Hobby's mission is to build children mechas to give the many childless couples an alternative.

While he addresses his team, a woman asks the key question in the film, "If a robot could genuinely love a person, what responsibility does that person hold toward that mecha in return?" I had exactly the same question before she asked it, and I was relieved to finally hear someone ask what responsibility we have to the artificial beings themselves. This question haunted me throughout the film, and it spawned countless ethical questions. All of those questions are predicated upon one fundamental philosophical question: is an artificial creation capable of genuine love? This question will split the audience, and, although I can think of good arguments on both sides, I come down firmly on the yes side. For me it comes down to the nature of existence. Our minds are the combination of electrical impulses and neural networks, and so is a computer. The only difference, really, is that our minds are natural and computers are artificial. Regardless of whether a being is artificial or real, if a being believes it feels emotions, doesn't it actually feel those emotions? Isn't the feeling in the believing?

Summary by Bill Alward

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