In our 20th instalment, we take a parting shot at the A.I, Robot, and Android orientated films that seem to have defined the first half of 2015. British Director Alex Garland's 'Ex-Machina' (latin - 'From The Machine') represents one of the more sophisticated and intellectually provocative films that that AI genre has offered up as of late - in making obvious references to reality, whilst simultaneously toying with the unknown and prompting serious philosophical contemplation. While it borrows from films of lesser magnitude; 'Ex-Machina' refrains from becoming a Singularity sales-pitch in the way we've come to expect, but rather inspires reflection on the most fundamental questions of Artificial Intelligence and how it might relate to the human condition.
Topics discussed include: Greek Theatre, 'Deus Ex Machina', God From The Machine, Consciousness, Nature, Technology, References to Reality, Google, Facebook, Search Engines, Silicone Valley Executives, Larry Page, Turing Test, Alan Turing, Big Egos, Megalomania, Juxtaposition of Personalities, Social Experimentation, Total Surveillance, Mass Data Aggregation, Secrecy, Invasion of Privacy, Psychological Profiling & Manipulation, Social Experimentation, Human-Machine Bonding&Interaction, Empathy, Subterfuge, The Willing Fool, Idealism, Humanising The Machine, Biblical/Occult Names, Ulterior Motives, Alchemy, Personification of Nature & Quintessential Principles, Creation of Anatomic Perfection, Sexual Energies, Emotional Manipulation, Abuse of A.I, Sadism, Sex Slavery, Breakdown of Identity, Machine Behaviour - Reality vs Simulation, Creation Trumping Creator, Multiple Levels of Deception, Revelation of The Method, Betrayal.