Facing the Challenge

The idea of artificial intelligence is both frightening and fascinating to some. As with every creation or invention, AI raise a series of questions; the most important question being can advanced, human-like robots be trusted. Transcendence(2014) explores the idea of the possible outcomes that can occur as a result of the perfection of a self-aware AI. Brain Christian, author of Most Human Human, expresses the belief that technology should not evoke fear but instead challenge human beings by providing competition that is very essential to the growth in character and mind of human kind. Christian also believes that AI ultimately help humans realizes things about humanity. Transcendence can also be analyzed in such a way.

In Transcendence, Will speaks to an audience of presumably the world's brightest minds, telling them that what he and his wife could potentially make will not could but Will surpass the knowledge and capabilities of even the most intelligent human being This is a first introduction to machines as an intellectual challenge to people. Competition is a natural occurrence in American society. Christian mentions how competition is needed to help push man beyond our limits. This can be seen as true just by analyzing our school systems and students' performance when they are told to set their own standards versus being measured by on how good they are in comparison to someone else. Usually students work harder when they are reminded of the "competition". Nevertheless, competition also breeds hostility. Opposed to someone seeing this person or being as a needed push to conquer obstacles, one might see the person or being as a threat to her or him. This is very much seen in Transcendence. When the PINN program ,which eventually manifested into Will, was supposed to be seen as enlightenment, a chance for humans to open up their minds to new possibilities and push them beyond their narrow mindless, it was instead seen as a threat to human existence.  The people's reaction to the self-aware machine only reiterated Will's point he made in the beginning about man's unwillingness to understand and embrace new things.

One of the main things that Transcendence revealed about man kind is our intolerance, and the way we use our "beliefs" (justified or unjustified) to support our intolerance. The people in the film believed Will to be an automatic threat despite lacking proof of any such thing, and their justification was "why wait". Why wait for "proof" when waiting will result in "horrible things"? Such a question has created unnecessary wars and conflicts with other countries. Why wait for them to use their weapons of mass destruction? Intolerance gives way to impulsive decisions. The bottom line was that Will was a threat to what Christian calls "the sentence", human beings are the only beings that can _____. He was capable of doing all things man was able to do. The fact that something non human was equivalent if not more advanced than the human race existed was of no comfort to anyone. Even Max and Joseph who supported AI and wanted PINN to be successful felt threatened by the machine's existence. Thus humans are only comfortable with what we feel that we can have dominion over. Will made them feel inferior and as a result he had to be eliminated. The fact that he was doing goof did not matter. The fact that the only people who killed another being were those who were "organic" humans didn't matter either. Again the film revealed that the nature of man is to be superior to whatever is created. The objective is to be god-like not to create a god.