When I see something like this I think: just a machine. Yes, it has sensors, yes it may be able to navigate based on a navigational program, avoiding obstacles, but that's a far cry from Ava. I'm realizing, at least I think that the more human it looks, especially if we find it attractive, and acts, especially displaying self awareness and the equivalent of human emotions, the sooner we will accept it as the equivalent of human.
From a philosophical standpoint, it makes me think (sorry if this is a repeat
) about what is the difference between biological organisms say human vs worm, and for the future, comparing human vs mechanical organisms like an android designed to mimic humans. What do we possess that makes us special, that they don't have?
Minimum requirement would be intelligence, self awareness, and be able to question your existence. As biological creatures we're vastly more complicated than any machine, but as we advance, I see no reason why our mechanical creations could not take on more characteristics of biological organisms. In Ex Machina, I forget the term Nathan used to describe Ava's brain, but it seemed to have a biological aspect to it.
Ultimately how important is this? The key difference for many of us is the concept of having a soul, otherwise how are we truly different than any other intelligent being, artificial machine? We age, wear out and die. Until we learn how to regrow new parts and maintain, retain our memories, the android could end up being superior to us.
Have you thought about what aspects of your existence gives you a feeling of uniqueness? It has to be a combination of your body, how your brain functions, your senses and accumulated memories, and the nebulous idea of consciousness, which is like an orb centered in our heads. We know that identical twins start with the same bodies, but then differentiate with age and experience, but both feel they are unique beings. I see no reason why this idea could not be applied to an advance android. There might be thousands of them, but they'd all feel unique.
I think if you don't believe in souls, the jump to human-android equivalence would be easier. And where souls are important (the concept is important to me) whose to say that if an android could possess the equivalent of human intelligence, emotions, and self reflection, that God could not consider it an adequate vessel for a soul? Consider that humans and androids would both be considered creations of this system/reality we are occupying. If you believe God created humans, though human hands it could allow for the creation of androids.
For any replies, this is a philosophical post, please keep them out of PRSI territory.
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Excellent idea for a thread. One in which has potential for much traction.
Warning to readers, spoilers below.
Was it really an error or failure of programming? Perhaps it could have been viewed as a total success in making Ava as "real" as could ever be hoped for.
What Ava did, in my opinion, was superbly human-like. She didn't plunge the knife into Jay, but she did set it up and manipulate the other girl robot to be in a position to make the knife go in. Total passive aggressivness.
Then she exhibited more manipulation of Cal by way of using her sexuality to gain his trust and use him to help her escape. All the while, likely, resenting him for being human, like Jay, who kept her captive. It was because of that that she left him behind, no doubt to die and die alone like she had probably thought was going to be her end.
I had hope for Caleb, with running water (if it indeed kept running), he could survive a month, and without word from Nathan (hopefully he had some online interactions or business responsibilities) or Caleb for a month, I'd hope that a trigger would result in an inquiry that would result in his rescue.
