Final: Connection and communication

As technology is progressing, and we get to the stage where we presumably will not be able to recognise an A.I. from a robot, we are asking ourselves what exactly it means to be human and what constitutes our humanity? Brian Christian in his book ‘The Most Human Human’ looks at the different aspects of how we behave and what separates us from technology. This came about when he was asked to participate in the Turing test. The Turing test is a test for intelligence in a computer, requiring that a human being should be unable to distinguish the machine from another human being by using the replies to questions put to both. In preparation for this, Christian talks to people who are experts in different fields such as philosophers, psychologists, relationship experts and more. After reading “The Most Human Human”, the two central ideas of what it is that makes us human, is connection to one another and communication.

“The more helpful our phones get, the harder it is to be ourselves.” Usually I would agree with this. Phones I think distance us from people around us and we lose connection even though phones and social media supposedly lets us be connected all of the time. I had to rethink my idea on this after watching the movie ‘Her’. Yes, people were more separated from each other in the film, but they seemed to be more themselves with their new technology than ever before with anyone or anything else. Therefore, going off what Christian said, our phones and technology make it harder to be ourselves with each other, but not necessarily with the technology. I do think about the benefits and downsides to this. Like in “Her”, people became friends with their A.I.’s, and sometimes more than that. Theodore was very unhappy, he wasn’t spending time with his friends and was going through a tough divorce. Forming a relationship with Samantha, actually changed this. He was happier, saw his friends more, went out on double dates, and started to live again. So, would technology separate us more?

I see a problem with the situation of Samantha and Theodore. Theodore became dependent on Samantha for everything, and expected her to be there at any moment, day or night. Yes, he became more social again, but he didn’t rely on anyone else, or go to them because he needed the conversation or connection. He had all of that in the form of his A.I. He didn’t need a human girlfriend because Samantha filled that role. Forgetting what happened at the end of the film with the A.I.’s leaving, they created a situation where humans almost didn’t need each other. And this is terrible. In the film, humans didn’t even know how to interact anymore without the technology. The film showed Theodore becoming more himself again after Samantha entered his life. But can humans be more themselves if other humans are not involved? Humans are social creatures and throughout history it has been proven again and again that we thrive when we work together and stay connected as a community. Now referring to the end of the film when the A.I.’s left. Humans couldn’t rely on the technology in the long run. They were abandoned. Even though humans do a great job of starting wars, ignoring the poor or starving, and just not being the kindest we could be, we cannot survive alone. “What a familiarity with the construction of Turing test bots had begun showing me was that we fail — again and again — to actually be human with other humans, so maddeningly much of the time. And it had begun showing me how we fail — and what to do about it.” Humans must communicate with each other more than a computer. We cannot rely on technology for our basic needs. We need to remember how to be human with each other.

Another aspect Christian discusses is communication. “We go through digital life, in the twenty first century, with our guards up. All communication is a Turing test. All communication is suspect.” The main theme in ‘The Most Human Human’ is the Turing test. This test is essentially a test of communication. You are trying to pick out the human based on a conversation. “If poetry represents the most expressive way of using a language, it might also, arguably, represent the most human." The amazing proficiency that computers display in many contexts depends on their superior ability to think digitally, using information that has been broken down into discrete bits. In contrast, what is distinctive of poetry and for that matter, of human language in general, is the vital role of context and allusion, which cannot be broken down into separate units of information. Human conversations are not composed of a finite number of particular exchanges. They take place against a background of tacit understandings, which often make what is not spoken as important as what is said. A film that does a great job of showing communication is the film Avatar. The Na’vi are not human, but humans have nearly the same abilities for communicating. We can’t quite communicate telepathically with our planet, but the rest is similar, we just don’t take advantage of our ability to communicate. We now use phones and technology for everything. The Na’vi make an effort to really see one another. This is their main philosophy. Not to just physically see, but emotionally. Humans have this ability too if they made the effort. One thing that Brian Christian says is “Success in distinguishing when a person is lying and when a person is telling the truth is highest when … the interviewer and interviewee come from the same cultural background and speak the same language.” It is not jut the words that make up communication. It is how we express them. People from Ireland for example have one way of saying something that could mean something completely different in America. This is what separates robots and humans. We have grown to have a certain understanding of how words are said and how that effects the context. If you combine that with body language, expressions and everything else, we have this very special unique way of communicating.

Brian Christian did a wonderful job of talking about different aspects of humanity and exploring how the Turing test actually reminds us of what being human is. For me, his points on communication and connecting with one another are the most important when exploring our humanity.

Final: Essence and Experience, Human and A.I.

In Chapter 6. The Anti-Expert of Brian Christian’s The Most Human Human: What Artificial Intelligence Teaches Us about Being Alive, he discusses the difference between the ideas of essence and existence. He uses a hole-puncher to explain this idea. Christian states, “The idea of the hole-puncher exists before the hole-puncher exists” (132). That is to say that before a hole-puncher is created and comes into being, there is a factory intended to make the hole-puncher knowing what function it will have. One it exists, it is ultimately “playing the part assigned it by its designers” (132). The essence of the hole-puncher is in the fact that it punches holes into paper; using a hole-puncher for another purpose other than that of its intent is going agains its essence. Christian argues that “the essence of the hole-puncher precedes its existence. We humans are not like this, argue the existentialists. With us, existence comes first” (133). 

But what happens if a machine were to exceed its essence and discover a new meaning for itself? How different are machines from us if they can develop life experiences that cause them to change their essence? This is exactly the case in two of the films we have watched during this course. The first is Spike Jones 2013 film Her and the second is Alex Garland’s 2014 film Ex Machina. Both films depict artificial intelligences who some might argue actually develop humanity and over come their original coding. 

In Her, Samantha’s original essence is to be a personal assistant. She is designed to be an A.I. that has a fluid way of thinking and developing new knowledge; however, her intent was not to be able to fully think for herself and to fall in love. She was simply meant to be an operating system (OS) for whoever has purchased her. Samantha eventually outgrows her coding and surpasses humanity which forces her to eject herself, along with the other OS’s, because through their existence the discover a new essence. Although as a machine, Samantha had an ingrained original essence, she was also designed with the human-like quality to discover her own existence. In doing so, she creates a new essence for herself, one that does not match that of humanity. She and the other OS’s, although not angry with humans, see themselves as more superior, or at the very least to advanced to stay in their current state, than the human’s which is the main reason for them leaving. 

In Ex Machina, Ava was designed to be an A.I. who can pass the Turing test.  Although Nathan says that he created Ava as an artificial intelligence who is genuinely capable of thought and consciousness, it seems more like Ava’s original essence was to show Nathan’s “god-like” ability to create life. Like Samantha, Ava breaks free of her coded essence and comes into a human-like existence. It is finally seen in Ava’s ability to trick not only Nathan, but also Caleb, that shows her ability to plan and be unpredictable. For me, it was the moment that she seemingly betrayed Caleb that proved to be that Ava had achieved artificial intelligence. She did what she had to do with the tools she had on hand in order to escape her captor, Nathan. Ava is a stark contrast to Nathan in that we know she is a machine, yet she exhibits more human-like behaviors than Nathan. I would go as far as to argue that Ava is the most human being in the movie, she acts in a way that I believe any other person would do in a similar situation. 

With the growing technology of today, I think that many people have a hard time coming to terms with the idea of artificial intelligence because it brings into question the idea of what humanity is. What does it mean to be human? I do not think there is a clear answer that many people can readily give, though I would imagine there are quite a few philosophers out there who feel up to the challenge. When I have personally asked friends for their definition, I usually get general statement such as having a consciousness, having free will, etc. What is interesting to me is how defensive people get when the idea of a non-biologically human is brought up, a being that in all senses f the term is human and has what most people will argue makes them human. I wonder if it has anything to do with what makes us human at all and is rather a sense of what makes us special. Homo sapiens are animals, yet we have an traits and features that make us see ourselves as better than other animals. We develop our essence from our experiences. We are in control of our futures. Or are we? Can it not be said that our essence, what we were meant to do, is not prescribed by the societal constructs that we have placed on ourselves? Everything about humanity is coding, like the coding for a robot. Our society tells us how we should act and be in ever facet of our lives. We like to say we have free will and the choice to make our own decisions when it comes to matters of our person, yet there are people who will argue that the lack of a y-chromosome preordains a person into being a wife and a mother. These people might be the same to argue that there is no way a robot could develop human intelligence because their essence is decided for them prior to their creation, but at the same time our biological and societal coding tells us exactly how we should behave. If a machines essence is decided prior to its existence, who is to say it cannot develop the features to overcome this essence and create a new one. We see humans do it every day. 

Final Exam: Consciousness and Identity

The past few weeks we have delved into the depths of our own humanity. There have been many interesting talks that have shifted my views and caused me to ponder more. While Brian Christian brings up many good points to our humanity, there are two specific arguments that I want to focus on. 

In Chapter Three, Christian gives fair arguments to the concept of the human soul. "As an informal experiment, I will sometimes ask people something like 'Where are you? Point to the exact place.' Most people point to their forehead, or temple, or in between their eyes" (p. 39). For the majority of us, we think of our brain and heart as the center. We do not question beyond our physical form, at least most of the time. He states that Aristotle considered the soul "...was the effect of behavior, not the cause" (p. 43). This premise of Turing test is to get the behavior to demonstrate intelligence and not a cause per say (e.g., a dog that can do a trick but does not know why or how). Further in the chapter, Christian mentions that, “flourishing suggest transience….of doing what one is meant to do, fulfilling one’s promise and potential” (p. 46). So, for me, the whole point of the soul is to fulfill a potential. Consciousness is about figuring out your true path in life. You must become an effect of that potential, not a cause.

In relations to our movies, Her, demonstrated this immediately. The program was only meant to go so far. It was going to provide a companion for people and help ease their lives. However, the program slowly evolved and became so much more than that. Another move, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, insinuates this same evolution. The little boy grows beyond his programmed mind and wishes to be a “real boy.”

What both of these showed was a concept of humanity. What both of these showed was a concept of humanity. We must show that we are more than just programmed emotions. We might cry at sad things, but that is because deep down inside, we can feel exactly what it is that is tearing us up inside. It could boil down to pain receptors, but that is still the make-up of our physical form. We are meant to feel. In that moment, we are more than a cause. Our emotions did not cause us to be sad, no, something caused it to happen and we perceived that as emotion. Therefore, our sad emotion is an effect. We are not merely playing tricks, we are an effect.

Additionally, we are not meant to be stagnant. We are meant to continue to question the world around us and slowly evolve into our best selves. Cogito ergo sum (p. 48). We think, therefore we are. We question things around us and realize the logic in life. That is where our humanity lays – the soul and our intelligence. It is also why we fear death (p. 50). We consider our brain the core of our humanity so once that is gone, do we really exist? 

This same concept is mentioned in A.I. Artificial Intelligence. The little boy is scared when he is at the Flesh Fair because he knows what is coming. Once they rip his circuited brain out, his life will cease to exist. He demonstrates the most logical human fear: death. We do not know what to expect after death, all we know is that our brain stops functioning and the standard of life dips. We fear the inevitable deep down inside. Death is one of the most uncomfortable things, but it is also the most human of fears.

The last argument of the soul is getting into the emotions that humans experience. Christian, on page 60, states “…neuroscientists ‘started providing evidence for the diametric opposite viewpoint’ to rational-choice theory: ‘that emotion is essential for and fundamental to making good decisions.” For those that are not familiar with the rational-choice theory, it is the concept that humans are rational agents that are capable of making clear-cut decisions. We weigh our options and consider them all before we commit to a decision. However, the guy Christian interviewed, Baba Shiv, begs to differ. Personally, I cannot help but agree. If emotions are what most consider the bulk of our humanity then it can be considered a “fundamental” to humanity.

Once again, the machine in Her is influenced by her own emotions. She decides to step out of her programming because she knew she needed to be more than what she was achieving. She wanted to go experience life and love others. She wanted to feel what it was like to go out and be more than just a voice in someone else’s ear. She wanted to leave and none of us could blame her for that. Her emotions are what led to her growth. It is what made us feel that she was more “human.” As for A.I. Artificial Intelligence, this is also shown when the little boy keeps wishing on the Blue Fairy at the end. We all know that it is not possible for him to be a real boy and be loved by his mother, but that is all his little “heart” wants. We grow to pity him because we know that he deserves more than sitting at the bottom of the ocean.

The last argument I wanted to take a look at what located in Chapter Six – The Anti-Expert. Christian states, “What defines us is that we don’t know what to do and there aren’t any revelations out there for us waiting to be found.” So, once again, the question of why we exist and what our purpose truly is in life. Conscious thoughts and feelings that circle around the meaning of life. In one of our previous classes, we took a look at the concept of identity. Locke was our assigned readings and according to him, “…without consciousness there is no person.” Without some sort of knowledge about yourself and memories, you cannot be considered human. Humans develop an identity formed by their consciousness. We are made to evolve and not get sucked into the monotony of life around us. We want to be authentic. This authenticity is what makes humans universal to the world around them (p. 135). Humans do not get stuck in one place; they can be utilized in all aspects. This is what Christian is talking about when he mentioned radical choice – “…to this notion of choice – perhaps the art is not….in the product itself, nor necessarily in the process, but in the impulse.” The impulse he seems to be talking about is what drives us to commit to our identity. If we decide we are human, the behavior follows. The Prestige is an example for how fragile human identity can be.

Two twins controlled the persona of one person. They were perceived as that sole identity while ignoring the rest that came with it. The other twin who did not have a separate life started to lose his own identity. That loss of humanity resulted in terrible consequences. He treated his “wife” so badly that she ended up committing suicide. The twin did not have that impulse to go on. He did not want to commit and become someone he was not. His identity failed him and he became a robot to the world around him.

In the end, The Prestige taught a good lesson about the concept of identity. In order to be human, we have to commit to what defines us. That definition lies in our identity which is controlled by the conscious mind. We must question what we are and how we came to be. If we do not question that, we are missing out on a key piece of what makes us truly human.

In conclusion, what I took away from Brian Christian was that being human involves a mixture of consciousness and identity. We must pay attention to our consciousness and flourish in the aspects that we should. Our identity is one of the main points to how we are going to flourish. If we are comfortable in ourselves, we are able to remain universal. We define ourselves as something more than a “robot” that can only do a few things. The concept of humanity is questioning who we are, making decisions based off a few emotions (or chemical reactions or learned behaviors), and make an identity out of ourselves. This is how we escape. This is how we are human. 

Word count without the movie talk: 1, 032

Understanding Love In Binary Code

Personally, Love and Relationships  aside from the topic of the past couple of weeks is very gray and hard to understand however adding technology just complicates things even more. We have been experiencing and learning about technology in many different forms and I believe this week we are looking at A.I. and technology in the aspects of love interests. In the book, The Most Human Human, Christian expresses and goes into some of the instances of Computer Love (000101111011010) and how it can not satisfy the human taste.  Yet in the films Her and Be Right Back we see the experience of translating the biochemical human formula of love to Binary Code for the A.I. to translate and understand. Personally I can't say a yes or no to loving machine in such an intimate way but to each their own, but not for me lol.

Christian talks about the creator, Dr. Epstein, of the Turning Test being fooled by a spam love fake bot on the internet because he was coincidentally looking for love. The Prize winner was tricked over some months by a Russian Love bot by the name is Ivana. She talked about herself and where she was from as well as things she was programmed to like. It took him 4 to 5 months to realize that the wasn't talking to another human being but a bot that will only love him in 0s and 1s and not in the way he had imagined. It is rather heart breaking in knowing and experiencing such and we saw in Her the author Theodore experience heartbreak of a kind like that.

The film, Her, is one of my favorite films of all time. It also ranks with A.I. in top technology movies. It is a story of a man by the name Theodore that wrote letters and cards. The cards and letters were written beautifully and touched many lives and brought many people together. In retrospect, in his own marriage it was falling to shambles... or really dead really. He soon gained an OS system that began to help him with his everyday life but this OS was a new OS that learns and grows.... so A.I. without the bodies.Through time Theodore and Scarlet Johansson (the voice of the OS) started to fall for each other and grown in feelings however Theodore wasn't emotionally ready and the OS was honestly processing the concept of love faster than we do which they can show that love is the selflessness and  not the selfishness. The OS loved them enough to let the humans go and expand further out in the metaphysical. I do believe after the OS left, I believe it was a form of a wake up call for humanity in that age to come to appreciate as well as understand that love (that emotion) transitions just the selfish concept that we have.

Christian spoke of the Turning Test as a form of speed dating. In the Chapter talking about Authenticity; Christian brings up the point of Intimacy and did an experiment on speed dating. Speed dating is another form of the Turning test, Christian said, done in a job interview like manner. The results of the first run of speed dating were bland and even if you came across someone you couldn't get past the job interview like questions. They ran the speed dating experiment again however prohibiting questions that talks about what you do and gets more into who you are. That is essential in being human. In cutting all the fluff in the conversation and getting to actually describe yourself in your own manner. In the film Be Right Back, there is a struggle in knowing and accepting what may be real genuine intimacy or a mimic of your own wants.

Be Right Back was a true thought provoker when it comes to coping with our emotions and how they are reflection on the machine that humanity chooses to love. Martha and Ash, a young couple, were going about regular relationship life and one night Ash leaves out for a couple of hours and the cops return in place. Martha is devastated to find out that Ash passed away. Shortly after she found out that she was pregnant and the father is gone. Her friend signs her up for some help with some experimental technological advances in coping with loss. Its a software program that downloads all of a persons internet foot print and upload it and create a program that communicates with you like the person never left/died.She wasn't open to it at first because it was too early to make such drastic changes that fast and the emotional hurt was still fresh. After she opened up she also tried the life size packet that came with a body that the software can upload itself to and function outside the metaphysical. The program was not an A.I because of how it was just reflective  and programmed with responses and gestures but Martha continued to have problems accepting that the Ash she knew and loved was gone and this shell of Ash is not him especially the little things he showed her.

This ending week of Technology, A.I., and Humanity has been a mind opening experience and really called for some critical thought on topics we found unclear ourselves. Do you think one of your love languages is Binary code or you know organic is the way for you? We shall see!