Spike Jonze's Her Analysis

The human mind consistently wonders what if, and soon finds itself looking into the future for different possibilities in life. In Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, the reader finds Huxley exploring a nuance in humanity, creating a dystopia, where science becomes the new focus and humans are mass produced in test tubes. Huxley creates a world which contrasts to some aspects of what the world is today. In this dystopia, the values of people are in the technologies which are developed to speed the process of developing babies. Through Huxley’s effective use of syntax and diction, his use of literary techniques, the structure, and playing of theme, Huxley creates an image of a society that worships technology

Is Martha right in her idea that the robot cannot think, which is why it could never be a duplication of a human, such as Ash? This paper shall attempt to demonstrate the validity of artificial intelligence’s inability to be thinking, conscious entities via Black Mirror’s “Be Right Back” episode by supporting it with Descartes’ Dualism theory.

Only recently has the topic arisen in its modern interpretation, but mankind has long pondered over the possibility of automation. For centuries, scientists, authors, and philosophers have discussed the potential creation of automatons, or automated machines, as well as the possibility that the processes of the human mind are mechanical, and could perhaps be replicated artificially. In his 1748 materialist work titled L’Homme Machine, or “Man a Machine”, philosopher Julien Offray de La Mettrie describes “that thought seems to be a property of matter, like electricity, power to move, impenetrability, extension, etc” (de La Mettrie 30). De La Mettrie negated the ideals of Descartes, who had previously stated that the functions of the mind were of a different nature. This new way of thinking helped to get the scientific ball rolling for the future creation of intelligent machinery. For the majority of history, such matters would be considered supernatural or simply out of the realm of foreseeable scientific accomplishment, in that they were merely works of fiction and such technology was too far out of reach. However, with the development of computer technologies in the 1900’s, suddenly the sky became the limit. With the help of computers, new innovations quickly advanced the technology industry, allowing for much more efficient

Carr utilizes the program ELIZA as an example of technology numbing human’s ability to differentiate man and machine. The connection between man and ELIZA goes so far as to cause humans to “imbue ELIZA with human qualities.” What’s easy to miss is that ELIZA was designed to be a therapist, and a key necessity of therapy is a seamless connection between the patient and the therapist. Thus ELIZA’s value as a therapist is established through this example. The imbuing of human qualities allows a deeper connection between man and machine, and actually points to a strength, not a weakness. The fact that man can begin to blur the edge of himself and his creation shows that man is capable of flawlessly integrating his creation in order to better utilize the machine. If man were always conscious of the numbing effect of technology, and thus stayed hesitant to integrate fully with the machine, man would be too worried to properly use the machine. Carr loses sight of this fact as he worries that human’s “wanted” to give ELIZA human qualities. His worry is ill place, as Carr fails to acknowledge the purpose behind

Shelley’s Romantic novel Frankenstein (1818) compares and reflects values of humanity and the consequences of our Promethean ambition against the futuristic, industrialized world of Blade Runner (1992) by Ridley Scott. The notions of unbridled scientific advancement and technological progress resonate with our desire to elevate humanity’s state of being, mirrored amongst the destructive ambition to overtake and disrupt nature and its processes. The disastrous implications of overreaching the boundary between progressive and destructive power and knowledge are heeded through the ultimate and inevitable loss of self and identity, transforming humanity into a form of monstrosity.

Therefore, the characters relied on fake human replicas of them, marionettes, to replace them for a while. However, as in many instances, the marionettes could still be detected, and they were so artificially intelligent, they developed strong emotion. These feelings were so strong, they motivated one of the marionettes to lock up its real self, in order to fall in love with his wife. Also, another marionette was used to distract one’s husband without him finding out for over a month. Once again, both replicas were used as distractions as to what they users did not want to face: reality. This story shows more so the emotional blindness and harm that can be caused by technology. These stories were authored to warn about when the limit as to how much technology can be trusted is

‘Blade Runner’, the film adaption, directed by Ridley Scott in 1982, of the 1968 novel ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ by Philip K. Dick. This essay will explore the meaning of the Tyrell slogan “More human than human” by following Deckard on Earth in Los Angeles 2019 as a futuristic, dark and depressing industrial metropolis by looking into and discussing what is real and what is not, the good and the bad and why replicants are more appealing than humans. This essay will analyse and pull apart the “Blade Runner’ world, the condition of humanity and what it really means to be human.

The idea of Artificial Intelligence began as a mere philosophical idea, simply a puzzle that provided food for thought for curious minds. In the 1940's, however, with the invention of the first computers, the notion then had the means to transcend simple abstract speculation and became a rather alluring potential actuality and goal in the technological community. It was not until the 1950's, however, that the link between human intelligence and machines was really observed spawning a technological boom that would precipitate to immense proportions, entirely reshaping our daily lives. Today, "Researchers are creating systems which can mimic human thought, understand speech, beat the best human chess player, and countless other feats never before possible" (The History of AI 1). The rapid fervor to which the researchers latched on to the further development of this infant technology, coincides eerily to that of the intense desire Shelley portrayed in Victor as he literally emptied his entire soul and being into his obsession of creating life. As Victor so splendidly illustrates a quest of this sort and in this manner is blinding and for this reason scarily dangerous. For just as Victor stood dumbfounded and

Summary: The problem of the soul continues as Descartes suggested that the human is composed of two completely different substances; a physical body which Descartes compares with a machine, and a non-physical mind, related to the soul, that allows humans to think and feel even if it has no “measurable dimensions” (67). But Elizabeth put in doubt his ideologies when she realized that a non-physical thing doesn’t have the strength to push and move the body. This led to several questions unanswered and also let space for other materialist theories such as behaviorism, mind-brain identity, and functionalism, which also fail in offering an explicit solution.

How do we know that we are human and, if we are human, what does it mean to be human? These two philosophical inquiries are explored in great depth in Ridley Scott's film "Blade Runner", and of course the text of Philip K. Dick's wonderful novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? on which the film is based. Most would agree that these themes exist in the novel, but a handful of critics and academics have some doubt as to their presence in the film. If one examines both the film and the text, one will realize that they both serve to support the same motifs, but do so in different fashions. Many critics argue that the awesome visuals

Andy Clark, in Natural-Born Cyborgs, offers an extended argument that technology’s impact on and intertwining with ordinary biological human life is not to be feared, either psychologically or morally. Clark offers several key concepts towards his line of reasoning. Clark argues that a human being thinks and reasons based on the biological brain and body dynamically linked with the culture and technological tools transparently accessible to the human. This form of thinking and reasoning develops new "thinking systems" that which over time become second nature thoughts and reasons and are the basis of even newer "thinking systems." It is a repetitive cycle that continues forever being built upon previous systems.

Throughout this semester our literary material dealt with themes of technology, modernization, the imponderable bloom, human nature, and truth to name a few of the most overarching. Each text has woven an impression of the possible near future for humanity if the patterns we are creating continue at an exponential rate. Patterns such as consumerism, neglecting unpleasurable emotions, using drugs, and controlling the environment for our short term benefits will write an unsavory and inevitable future. Science Fiction often reflects on society by exaggerating their negative characteristics and advancements to seem far-out, but often it is ironic how close many aspects of the fiction are a direct reflection of the present condition. Even now, the possibilities of utopias and dystopias forming are not so out of reach. The ability of our culture to control an entire population with a self-satisfied culture of vices outfitted with technology is less and less science fiction as the years pass.

About nine years ago I discovered a book called The Age of Spiritual Machines by a man named Ray Kurzweil that demanded my immediate interest. I was captivated by his view of the future of technology - astoundingly positive and bright compared to most peoples’ negative or dystopian outlook when it comes to the dangers of a society increasingly reliant on machines and technology. I recently had the privilege of watching Spike Jonze’s 2013 movie her. While focusing on the personal aspect of a man falling in love with an artificial intelligence in a near-future Los Angeles, I couldn’t help but be surprised and delighted when Ray Kurzweil’s theories and mindset came shining through the backdrop. This is a smart, moving love story at first

Her (2013) is based on a futuristic premise that sets the stage for an unusual love story between a lonely, nebbish, professional letter-writer, Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) and his artificially intelligent computer operating system, Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). In the movie, Spike Jonze, the writer and director, touches upon the larger questions surrounding the human condition and how our desire to be loved and accepted has led us to seek technological substitutes for our most basic emotional needs. Importantly, the movie also comes with an embedded caveat for the future based on our current socio-cultural obsession with technology--if we were to continue our zeitgeist-y love affair with technology and artificial

Rene Descartes’ “Discourse on the Method” focuses on distinguishing the human rationale, apart from animals and robots. Wherein, he does so by explaining how neither animals, nor machines possess the same mental faculties as humans. For Descartes distinguishes the human rationale apart from non-humans, even though he does agree the two closely resemble each other because of their sense organs, and physical functions (Descartes, pp22). Nevertheless, it is because the mechanical lacks a necessary aspect of the mind, which consequently separates them from humans. For in Descartes “Discourse on the Method,” he argues that the noteworthy difference between humans, and the mechanical is that machines are only responding to the world through of their sense organs. Whereas humans possess the significant faculties of reasoning, which allows them to understand external inputs and information obtained from the surrounding environment. This significantly creates a dividing ‘line’, which separates humans from non-humans. For in this paper, I will firstly distinguish the differences between the human and mechanical’s mentality in regards to Descartes “Discourse on the Method”. Secondly, I will theorize a modern AI that could possess the concept of an intellectual mind, and then hypothesize a powerful AI that lacks the ability to understand its intelligence. Lastly, in disagreeing in why there are no such machines that is equivalent to the human mind. For humans don’t possess all the