Transcendence

Saw Transcendence (thanks, Amanda!) It was a ripping adventure about the singularity (or, as the film calls it, transcendence (not sure why. Copyright issues??)) The idea, for the uninitiated, is that AI will someday equal human intelligence and will then exceed human intelligence and will then, by virtue of improving its very self, will begin a run-away progression unto unbounded intelligence and therefore power. In this film this idea is bound up with the notion of a simulation of a human mind in a machine. These are not very intimately connected ideas but are both lots of fun to think about. Consider, for example, if somehow a perfect duplicate were made of your brain. In what sense would the copy be you? It would remember all of your memories and would certainly claim to be you, but it's over there on a computer screen perhaps while you're still here, looking out from behind your eyes. Would you experience feelings from both copy and original? Unlikely, but then what happens if I shoot you, the original? Do you live on in any sense?

By means of these questions, nerds and computer scientists wade merrily into the waters of theology. Wonderfully enough, in this film there are blatant religious references. Once nano-technology is under the control of the film's AI, the lame are made to walk and the blind to see. Indeed, depending on how you answer the questions in the above paragraph, you could argue even that the dead are brought back to life. There's also some cute names flying around. The AI is named William (frequently shortened to "Will") and his wife is named Evelyn (Eve). As with theology however, I turn a doubtful eye on these speculations. They are beautiful ideas, but I have been disappointed too often by beautiful ideas and will now only believe it when I see it. Speaking of beautiful ideas that don't pan out: Wired magazine is prominently displayed in this film.

I'm being kind of mean in this review I guess, but let me be clear: I did enjoy this movie. It's essentially a thriller built on top of grand ideas and so you can mull over the fun ideas during the talky bits and be dazzled by the gunshots and espionage later on. Like The Matrix, it leaves you something to think about but is not an inaccessible, arty think-piece. All of my snark and grumbling above is directed at the idea of The Singularity which I've heard far too much starry-eyed talk about already. The pleasure of this film, for me, came from watching the super-intelligent AI building and discovering and creating things. The most compelling thing about the film is just seeing what the AI will do next and breathlessly waiting to see how that turns out. Are we approaching utopia or dystopia? This is a vastly fun film which unfortunately induced me to rant to my long-suffering boyfriend about Moore's law.