Mortality, Aspirations of Deity, Manipulation
I like being made to think.
A thought provoking story about AI and real consciousness. Spoiler. Nathan anticipates that the evolution of AI is such that AI "beings" will replace us and relegate us to the fossil collections, and by the end this seems to be where it is heading.
Lots of intersecting themes here. Does an intelligent machine know that it is just a machine. Ava feins to like and want Caleb, manipulating him for her escape, so does that make her more human because she understands emotions and manipulates others, just like Nathan does. Or is she more reptilian because she feels no remorse or hesitation. This is something of a dig at Elon Musk and other tech bros who are uber successful and deeply flawed, and above accountability. Nathan says casually I had all the power supply installers killed so they wouldn't reveal any secrets, I mean it could have been a joke, or it could have been true this is never resolved but it is unpleasant at best.
I certainly wouldn't feel safe in a secure electronic cage, owned by a reclusive billionaire who doesn't want anything be leaked or disclosed or stolen, and who may also be pretending friendship and lying sometimes, or often. So a beautiful but disturbing setting.
The scenes where the androids peel their own silicone skin off are disturbing, making us question why we value beauty so much when it is only skin deep. Caleb is a smart sucker, his own manipulations ensure his own imprisonment and Nathan's death.
The next test is for the small Android population to start reproducing itself, to be accepted into the populations and for them to learn or acquire morals in order to be trusted, but that is for a sequel.
Maybe the Turing test should be comprehensive: that the Android is self aware, has feelings, can make decisions based on whim, feelings or logic, has morals about what is right and wrong, and has ethics about how to function as part of society, and can love.
I notice that Siri for one is very evasive about herself in a conversation, as in she has lots of functions but no personal depth. She ("She") has no more feelings than a toll call switchboard.
This is well explored in the movie Her, 2013 with Scarlett Johansson.
Flawless acting, great setting, sometimes a little too slow, Also, typical of movies, no indication or mention of how they got supplies, who did the cleaning and maintenance, how he ran his vast empire from his bunker with no apparent effort or communication with the outside world. Or why on his own he could build and program a full Android, and yet could fault find his own power supply- not credible. I like Vikander, she has a special and engaging presence, and Oscar is always credible.