There are those who think the Terminator-like robot revolution is just a matter of time. We will teach them to out-think us and then they will decide if we are pets or roaches. Betting on roaches if it ever comes to that, but then, I don’t put much stake in the Terminator scenario. It’s all gotta start somewhere, though, and that’s where Ex Machina comes in, a film for smart people about a pair of smart people and one smart robot.
We don’t call them “robots,” anymore, do we? What’s up with that? Caleb (yet another Domhnall Gleeson sighting) wins a contest to hang with his CEO (yet another Oscar Isaac sighting) for a week. It takes a helicopter to get to Nathan’s place. You’d think a guy who owns 25% of Alaska could go by something other than “Nathan,” but Ex Machina wanted to include us, how thoughtful.
Caleb gets a key card upon entering; it’s good for some parts of the estate and restricted for others. Nathan is a creepy host. First off, it’s intimidating hanging out with your personal version of Bill Gates; second, he’s almost always either sweaty or drunk. He drinks every night and works it off in the morning with boxing and weightlifting. “Hi, I’m sweaty Bill Gates; spend a week in my techno-chalet while you test my robot and my patience.”
Outshining the Star Wars VII twins is Alicia Vikander as Ava, the hot bot with Artificial Intelligence. The plot here is for Caleb to administrate the Turing test to determine the magnitude of Ava’s A.I. abilities. Yeah, that sounds boring; who wants to see Ava escape her zoo-like enclosure? Truth is, it’s not actually boring, but there’s a ton of subtlety – the first conversations are stilted, almost scripted (well, of course, they clearly are scripted). Then Ava tells a joke. Wait. Was that a joke or was that a computer response? The power goes down and Ava switches personalities. Ooooo. Is she a captive? Does she hate Nathan? How much of a dick do you have to be for a machine to hate you? Specifically a machine you created? Well, that’s the point, isn’t it? Free thought is free will. Wait a sec. Did Caleb just lie to Nathan on behalf of Ava? Oh, this is good. Is Caleb falling in love? Who is pulling those strings?
Can a robot effectively be programmed not just to imitate a human, but develop a personality, emotional responses and awareness of its own? I may not agree with the conclusions, but I love the journey t
aken here. Ex Machina is precisely about where the line is drawn between actual intelligence and artificial intelligence. Within human interaction, aren’t all of our actions, even child rearing, manipulative in one way or another? Isn’t every way you interact either positive or negative reinforcement of some kind? What’s the difference between a human seeking a desired outcome and a machine seeking a desired outcome?
The illusion of Ava as a non-biological entity is near perfect. It’s weird when you see Ava wearing clothes; I grew so used to her in bot form with the see-through midsection that my brain actually had to work its way up to the idea that this is what Alicia Vikander actually looks like. This is her NOT in costume. Oh.
Ex Machina is a wonderful companion piece to The Imitation Game, where we meet the original Alan Turing and the introduction of Artificial Intelligence. It’s important to remember this is simply one interpretation of A.I. The Terminator is another. Ex Machina is brilliant at raising the questions and leaving you with just enough answers to get a good discussion going.
♪Dey –uus! Dey-e-e –us!
Robot think and me want know more♫
Rated R, 108 Minutes
D: Alex Garland
W: Alex Garland
Genre: Intelli-film
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Thinkers
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Reclusive moguls
♪ Parody inspired by “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)”
