Ex Machina Film Blog, Della Posta, Meagher, More
Ex Machina
2014
Written and Directed by Alex Garland
Staring Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, and Oscar Isaac
1 hr and 48 mins
Official Trailer
Summary
Ex Machina tells the story of Caleb, a talented programmer who works at a company called Bluebook. Bluebook was created by Nathan, a reclusive super genius. Caleb wins a competition to spend a week with Nathan at his mountain retreat, but to do more than just hang out. Nathan has built a robot, named Ava. Nathan believes he has succeeded in creating the first robot with strong A.I., the ability to think like a human. He wants Caleb to be the human component in a Turing Test. The Turing Test is a means for seeing whether or not a robot actually has strong A.I.. If the robot can convince a human that it is human, than it passes the test. After just six sessions with Caleb, Ava seduces him, turns him against Nathan, and convinces him to help her escape. This is exactly what Nathan was looking for, believing that if Ava could recognize that Caleb was the only way for her to escape and manipulate his emotions, than Ava truly would have strong A.I.. Unfortunately for Nathan, Caleb outsmarts him and manages to let Ava out of the room she’s kept in. Once free, Ava kills Nathan and locks Caleb in the house while she escapes into the world, where no one knows she’s a robot.
Analysis of Film Techniques
The film uses a multitude of film techniques to really make the viewer believe the things they are seeing. Sound plays a critical role in how we first perceive Ava when she first comes on screen, there is a soft and slow piano music revolving around four notes that is similar to the theme of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a film that is about humanities first contact with extraterrestrial life. Like in that film, this track marks the first encounter between a man and something otherworldly and unknown. Regardless of whether or not the viewer recognizes the the tune it serves to remind them of Ava’s inhuman nature. Also, when we first meet Ava, her voice has a slight robotic ting to it. Over time, this ting disappears, gradually transitioning the viewer perception of Ava from thinking she’s a robot to thinking she’s an actual sentient being. Thirdly, the film does a good job of using lighting as a means of indicating whether the situation is dangerous and suspenseful, or a secure and safe scene. For example, during the power shortages there was a red tint covering the whole remote research facility. Personally, I was on edge when this happened, thinking that Ava was going to do something menacing to Caleb. During the final scene, there is a bright, warm, heavenly light as Ava marches to a new walk of life. This lighting indicated no levels of danger as well as implying a new beginning for Ava, as heaven is often regarded as a fresh start.
The characters of Ex Machina serve interesting roles in the film. Caleb serves as a blank slate. His parents are dead and he doesn’t have a girlfriend. Aside from that and that he’s a brilliant programmer at Nathan’s company, we know next to nothing about Caleb. While Caleb being so plain makes a weak character, it does make him a character a viewer can see themselves in. Like Caleb, the audience is going through this completely new and foreign experience. So Caleb is the one who’s reactions to the films events most closely resemble our own. He is like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz or Luke in Star Wars. He’s the character who shares the audiences confusion and wonder at the films events. There is also Nathan, whose characteristics signal to the viewer that he is the antagonist. Nathan is smarter than Caleb, richer than Caleb, more confident than Caleb (despite living in isolation with machines for who knows how long), and is physically stronger than Caleb. In most stories, the villain is more powerful than the protagonist, so when Caleb, who is clearly the protagonist being the first character we meet and the one most like the viewer, looks shy and pathetic against a muscular, confident genius, one can quickly assume Nathan is bad guy number one.
The acting in the film is spot on. Both Gleeson (Caleb) and Issac (Nathan) do a fantastic job in their respective roles. Domhnall is able to communicate the uneasiness and suspicion that Caleb rightfully feels. He also plays the role of a nerdy and awkward Caleb with skill. The way he speaks really makes the viewer believe what they are seeing. Oscar on the other hand handles Nathan’s role beautifully. Nathan is a tech genius without the nerdy awkwardness that usually follows such a title. Oscar speaks with a certain bravado and confidence that makes the viewer understand his role. The fact that Nathan ends up being right in the end again shows how Oscar does a great job. During the film the viewer is unsure of Nathan’s sincerity and honesty with Caleb. We thought Nathan was the bad guy but as it turns out he was on Caleb’s team the whole time.
Another technique used by the director is that of lighting. Nathan’s whole house is filled with lights that leaves the house looking relatively dark and eerie. Ava’s room is also quite dark and even when Caleb is there testing her, it remains quite dark. Another use of lighting is during the power cuts. A red light fills every shot and again gives off an eerie vibe. This red light could even be foreshadowing how these power cut chats between Caleb and Ava are bad and will eventually cause harm.
Finally, choices in setting play a critical role. Nathan’s house is basically ‘in the middle of nowhere’. Caleb is flown in by helicopter and then has to walk a ways to get to Nathan’s house. This shows how isolated they are because Caleb and Nathan are the only humans for miles. Nathan’s home decor also connects well to the theme of the film. The inside of his house gives off a very ‘cold’ vibe. The modern looking decor along with the use of tile and stone help push this point across. The modern look connects to the fact that Nathan has hidden in his house the most advanced technology in the world. The decor also leaves the viewer with an uneasy feeling as it doesn’t look very inviting or comfortable which also connects to humans discomfort with AI and the fears we hold in regards to robots.
Themes
Ex Machina addresses the question of what it means to be conscious. It is what Nathan wants Caleb to see in Ava. While discussing Jackson Pollock, Nathan expresses a belief that consciousness to be something between calculated thought and total randomness. It is that gut feeling. The actions you take that aren’t random but you can’t describe why your taking them either. It’s your preferences, not something you like randomly but also not something we’ve come to prefer through careful analysis of all possible options.
The film also brings up the dangers of creating an AI without morality. In the film Ava’s task is to reach freedom from any means necessary even if that means using and playing with people's emotions. If A.I. were to become a reality in today's world, would they use their powers for evil, like Ava, or for good? AI will lack moral judgment that us humans possess which could have troubling implications. The AI we have today tends to complete their task without accounting for the morality we humans consider. Even if morals could be programed into an AI, like we’ve seen being attempted in military robots and self driving cars, how would the robot determine what is the right and good action. What ethical code would it follow? Would these robots be utilitarian or would they possess other moral standards.
The final thing that this film brings up is how we will treat AI. Nathan used Kyoko to satisfy his sexual appetite and has no problem ‘killing’ Ava on his quest to create strong AI. If these robots look and act exactly like us, maybe even possessing our consciousness, how would we treat them? Could we treat them like things? On what grounds could we do this? Simply because they aren’t carbon based? Other creatures are carbon based an we treat them like crap. Because we created them? We create our children and don’t own them. We don’t create animals and yet take ownership of them.
Film Review Word Count: 1425
Quality of Film:
The film Ex Machina gives us a glimpse into the future of what artificial intelligence holds for humanity. It is unlike the usual Hollywood plots, dependent on fast action and riddled with holes. It still isn’t perfect, such as a scene where the camera focuses on scars on Caleb’s back, scars that hold no significance to the plot. Caleb’s escape plan shouldn’t have worked. If he changed the code to have all the doors unlock during a power failure before telling Ava, like he said he did, then the doors should have been unlocked during the power outage where he told her about his plan. There isn’t any evidence to suggest he programed that code to activate at a specific moment. Nathan would have noticed this, so with the information we have, Caleb plan shouldn’t have worked. In relation to that, though we don’t expect Garland to know this, is the fact that if Caleb changed the lock down procedure he should have been able to escape when he puts his card into the computer. When coding, if two or more events would trigger the same procedure, programmers can tell a computer to follow that code if it was previously written earlier instead of rewriting the whole thing. When Caleb puts his card in the computer, it would loop to the code he changed, unlocking the doors instead of locking them. It is possible that Nathan rewrote the shutdown code for every event that would trigger it, but that would be poor craftsmanship, which would be unlike his character. And finally, Ava mentions that she’s battery powered and has to charge herself, yet she leaves without a charger.
These, we hope you remember, are very small flaws. The techniques of the film are all well thought through. The combination of a close-to-home aspect of technology did in fact mix marvelously, creating a very thought provoking movie. The actors, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac and Alicia Vikander all fulfilled their respective roles as protagonists, and antagonists. Highly recommended to anyone, a must see for aspiring filmmakers.
Rating:
Connections to the Course
Like in the course, the film has an interest in the nature of consciousness. Throughout the film Caleb is constantly questioning whether or not Ava has consciousness and what it means to have consciousness. Ava has a self-aware self, being able to express herself with her clothing, her drawings, and associating her name as belonging to her. She is also shown to be experiencing qualia at the end of the film, her face in constant awe as she sees the outside world for the first time.
There is also reference to the uncanny valley. During the film, it is very important to Nathan that Ava can pass as human. He says himself that he wanted Caleb to see Ava, so he could see she’s a machine and still not be uncomfortable. This would mean Ava comes out on the other side of the valley, human enough so her robotness doesn’t creep out others.
Ava demonstrates the psychological benchmarks that were discussed in class, specifically the ability to identify human emotions and changing her behavior according to them. This is how she is able to manipulate Caleb into helping her escape. Caleb also associates moral value to Ava, another benchmark we discussed.
Questions
Do you think Ava can be considered a person? Why or why not?
If an AI is fully conscious and self aware does that mean that it (he/she?) is entitled to the same rights as humans? Do their lives or any other AI’s life equal that of a human? Why or why not?
Should we create a machine with a self-aware self?
Related Links
The AI Revolution: Our Immortality or Extinction:
https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-2.html
Like with the film, this article addresses some of the problems we face with A.I. coming into our lives. Nathan once said in the film that A.I. will one day look at us the way we look at fossils. This article very much agrees with that statement, warning that the intelligence of a strong A.I. will quickly surpass that of a human and lead to our doom if it’s amoral, like Ava was at the end of Ex Machina.
AI is Highly Likely to Destroy Humans, Elon Musk Warns:
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/elon-musk-artificial-intelligence-openai-neuralink-ai-warning-a8074821.html
In this article, Elon Musk talks about how AI can potentially be dangerous to human kind. This film demonstrates Elon’s fear of AI through Ava. She shows no remorse in killing Nathan and leaving Caleb to die. Elon says that it is possible to have safe AI but today's tech companies are moving to fast and if they continue, these AI can be dangerous.
Work Cited
Ex Machina. Directed by Alex Garland, performances by Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, and Oscar Isaac. Universal Pictures, Film4, DNA Films, 2014.
“Ex Machina (2014).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0470752/
2014
Written and Directed by Alex Garland
Staring Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, and Oscar Isaac
1 hr and 48 mins
Official Trailer
Summary
Ex Machina tells the story of Caleb, a talented programmer who works at a company called Bluebook. Bluebook was created by Nathan, a reclusive super genius. Caleb wins a competition to spend a week with Nathan at his mountain retreat, but to do more than just hang out. Nathan has built a robot, named Ava. Nathan believes he has succeeded in creating the first robot with strong A.I., the ability to think like a human. He wants Caleb to be the human component in a Turing Test. The Turing Test is a means for seeing whether or not a robot actually has strong A.I.. If the robot can convince a human that it is human, than it passes the test. After just six sessions with Caleb, Ava seduces him, turns him against Nathan, and convinces him to help her escape. This is exactly what Nathan was looking for, believing that if Ava could recognize that Caleb was the only way for her to escape and manipulate his emotions, than Ava truly would have strong A.I.. Unfortunately for Nathan, Caleb outsmarts him and manages to let Ava out of the room she’s kept in. Once free, Ava kills Nathan and locks Caleb in the house while she escapes into the world, where no one knows she’s a robot.
Analysis of Film Techniques
The film uses a multitude of film techniques to really make the viewer believe the things they are seeing. Sound plays a critical role in how we first perceive Ava when she first comes on screen, there is a soft and slow piano music revolving around four notes that is similar to the theme of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a film that is about humanities first contact with extraterrestrial life. Like in that film, this track marks the first encounter between a man and something otherworldly and unknown. Regardless of whether or not the viewer recognizes the the tune it serves to remind them of Ava’s inhuman nature. Also, when we first meet Ava, her voice has a slight robotic ting to it. Over time, this ting disappears, gradually transitioning the viewer perception of Ava from thinking she’s a robot to thinking she’s an actual sentient being. Thirdly, the film does a good job of using lighting as a means of indicating whether the situation is dangerous and suspenseful, or a secure and safe scene. For example, during the power shortages there was a red tint covering the whole remote research facility. Personally, I was on edge when this happened, thinking that Ava was going to do something menacing to Caleb. During the final scene, there is a bright, warm, heavenly light as Ava marches to a new walk of life. This lighting indicated no levels of danger as well as implying a new beginning for Ava, as heaven is often regarded as a fresh start.
The characters of Ex Machina serve interesting roles in the film. Caleb serves as a blank slate. His parents are dead and he doesn’t have a girlfriend. Aside from that and that he’s a brilliant programmer at Nathan’s company, we know next to nothing about Caleb. While Caleb being so plain makes a weak character, it does make him a character a viewer can see themselves in. Like Caleb, the audience is going through this completely new and foreign experience. So Caleb is the one who’s reactions to the films events most closely resemble our own. He is like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz or Luke in Star Wars. He’s the character who shares the audiences confusion and wonder at the films events. There is also Nathan, whose characteristics signal to the viewer that he is the antagonist. Nathan is smarter than Caleb, richer than Caleb, more confident than Caleb (despite living in isolation with machines for who knows how long), and is physically stronger than Caleb. In most stories, the villain is more powerful than the protagonist, so when Caleb, who is clearly the protagonist being the first character we meet and the one most like the viewer, looks shy and pathetic against a muscular, confident genius, one can quickly assume Nathan is bad guy number one.
The acting in the film is spot on. Both Gleeson (Caleb) and Issac (Nathan) do a fantastic job in their respective roles. Domhnall is able to communicate the uneasiness and suspicion that Caleb rightfully feels. He also plays the role of a nerdy and awkward Caleb with skill. The way he speaks really makes the viewer believe what they are seeing. Oscar on the other hand handles Nathan’s role beautifully. Nathan is a tech genius without the nerdy awkwardness that usually follows such a title. Oscar speaks with a certain bravado and confidence that makes the viewer understand his role. The fact that Nathan ends up being right in the end again shows how Oscar does a great job. During the film the viewer is unsure of Nathan’s sincerity and honesty with Caleb. We thought Nathan was the bad guy but as it turns out he was on Caleb’s team the whole time.
Another technique used by the director is that of lighting. Nathan’s whole house is filled with lights that leaves the house looking relatively dark and eerie. Ava’s room is also quite dark and even when Caleb is there testing her, it remains quite dark. Another use of lighting is during the power cuts. A red light fills every shot and again gives off an eerie vibe. This red light could even be foreshadowing how these power cut chats between Caleb and Ava are bad and will eventually cause harm.
Finally, choices in setting play a critical role. Nathan’s house is basically ‘in the middle of nowhere’. Caleb is flown in by helicopter and then has to walk a ways to get to Nathan’s house. This shows how isolated they are because Caleb and Nathan are the only humans for miles. Nathan’s home decor also connects well to the theme of the film. The inside of his house gives off a very ‘cold’ vibe. The modern looking decor along with the use of tile and stone help push this point across. The modern look connects to the fact that Nathan has hidden in his house the most advanced technology in the world. The decor also leaves the viewer with an uneasy feeling as it doesn’t look very inviting or comfortable which also connects to humans discomfort with AI and the fears we hold in regards to robots.
Themes
Ex Machina addresses the question of what it means to be conscious. It is what Nathan wants Caleb to see in Ava. While discussing Jackson Pollock, Nathan expresses a belief that consciousness to be something between calculated thought and total randomness. It is that gut feeling. The actions you take that aren’t random but you can’t describe why your taking them either. It’s your preferences, not something you like randomly but also not something we’ve come to prefer through careful analysis of all possible options.
The film also brings up the dangers of creating an AI without morality. In the film Ava’s task is to reach freedom from any means necessary even if that means using and playing with people's emotions. If A.I. were to become a reality in today's world, would they use their powers for evil, like Ava, or for good? AI will lack moral judgment that us humans possess which could have troubling implications. The AI we have today tends to complete their task without accounting for the morality we humans consider. Even if morals could be programed into an AI, like we’ve seen being attempted in military robots and self driving cars, how would the robot determine what is the right and good action. What ethical code would it follow? Would these robots be utilitarian or would they possess other moral standards.
The final thing that this film brings up is how we will treat AI. Nathan used Kyoko to satisfy his sexual appetite and has no problem ‘killing’ Ava on his quest to create strong AI. If these robots look and act exactly like us, maybe even possessing our consciousness, how would we treat them? Could we treat them like things? On what grounds could we do this? Simply because they aren’t carbon based? Other creatures are carbon based an we treat them like crap. Because we created them? We create our children and don’t own them. We don’t create animals and yet take ownership of them.
Film Review Word Count: 1425
Quality of Film:
The film Ex Machina gives us a glimpse into the future of what artificial intelligence holds for humanity. It is unlike the usual Hollywood plots, dependent on fast action and riddled with holes. It still isn’t perfect, such as a scene where the camera focuses on scars on Caleb’s back, scars that hold no significance to the plot. Caleb’s escape plan shouldn’t have worked. If he changed the code to have all the doors unlock during a power failure before telling Ava, like he said he did, then the doors should have been unlocked during the power outage where he told her about his plan. There isn’t any evidence to suggest he programed that code to activate at a specific moment. Nathan would have noticed this, so with the information we have, Caleb plan shouldn’t have worked. In relation to that, though we don’t expect Garland to know this, is the fact that if Caleb changed the lock down procedure he should have been able to escape when he puts his card into the computer. When coding, if two or more events would trigger the same procedure, programmers can tell a computer to follow that code if it was previously written earlier instead of rewriting the whole thing. When Caleb puts his card in the computer, it would loop to the code he changed, unlocking the doors instead of locking them. It is possible that Nathan rewrote the shutdown code for every event that would trigger it, but that would be poor craftsmanship, which would be unlike his character. And finally, Ava mentions that she’s battery powered and has to charge herself, yet she leaves without a charger.
These, we hope you remember, are very small flaws. The techniques of the film are all well thought through. The combination of a close-to-home aspect of technology did in fact mix marvelously, creating a very thought provoking movie. The actors, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac and Alicia Vikander all fulfilled their respective roles as protagonists, and antagonists. Highly recommended to anyone, a must see for aspiring filmmakers.
Rating:
Connections to the Course
Like in the course, the film has an interest in the nature of consciousness. Throughout the film Caleb is constantly questioning whether or not Ava has consciousness and what it means to have consciousness. Ava has a self-aware self, being able to express herself with her clothing, her drawings, and associating her name as belonging to her. She is also shown to be experiencing qualia at the end of the film, her face in constant awe as she sees the outside world for the first time.
There is also reference to the uncanny valley. During the film, it is very important to Nathan that Ava can pass as human. He says himself that he wanted Caleb to see Ava, so he could see she’s a machine and still not be uncomfortable. This would mean Ava comes out on the other side of the valley, human enough so her robotness doesn’t creep out others.
Ava demonstrates the psychological benchmarks that were discussed in class, specifically the ability to identify human emotions and changing her behavior according to them. This is how she is able to manipulate Caleb into helping her escape. Caleb also associates moral value to Ava, another benchmark we discussed.
Questions
Do you think Ava can be considered a person? Why or why not?
If an AI is fully conscious and self aware does that mean that it (he/she?) is entitled to the same rights as humans? Do their lives or any other AI’s life equal that of a human? Why or why not?
Should we create a machine with a self-aware self?
Related Links
The AI Revolution: Our Immortality or Extinction:
https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-2.html
Like with the film, this article addresses some of the problems we face with A.I. coming into our lives. Nathan once said in the film that A.I. will one day look at us the way we look at fossils. This article very much agrees with that statement, warning that the intelligence of a strong A.I. will quickly surpass that of a human and lead to our doom if it’s amoral, like Ava was at the end of Ex Machina.
AI is Highly Likely to Destroy Humans, Elon Musk Warns:
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/elon-musk-artificial-intelligence-openai-neuralink-ai-warning-a8074821.html
In this article, Elon Musk talks about how AI can potentially be dangerous to human kind. This film demonstrates Elon’s fear of AI through Ava. She shows no remorse in killing Nathan and leaving Caleb to die. Elon says that it is possible to have safe AI but today's tech companies are moving to fast and if they continue, these AI can be dangerous.
Work Cited
Ex Machina. Directed by Alex Garland, performances by Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, and Oscar Isaac. Universal Pictures, Film4, DNA Films, 2014.
“Ex Machina (2014).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0470752/
Answer to question 2:
ReplyDeleteI believe that if an AI is fully conscious and self-aware, then they should be entitled to the same right as humans are. When describing someone as fully conscious and self-aware, I interpret that this person in question is fully aware of their body, of their live, of themselves and they are fully conscious of everything they're doing. If an AI has these capacities then I believe they are also entitled to judgment, to freedom etc. Being fully conscious means that one is aware of their feelings, emotions, thoughts, of their existence. So long an AI is aware of its existence and role in society and can reflect on its existence, I believe it should have the same rights as we humans do. I would consider their lives to be close to equal to a humans life because of these capacities that they possess. I say 'close to equal' because there will always be a barrier between humans and AI's due to the fact that they are monitored. I think that once humans are able to get over the fact that AI's are monitored and treat them as real human beings, they should be entitled to the same rights as humans.
Answer to question 1:
ReplyDeleteI do think that Ava, despite her eerie presence throughout the film, could be considered a person. If Nathan had conducted a proper Turing Test, then she would've most likely passed. And if an A.I. can pass a Turing Test, doesn't that theoretically mean that it can completely act like a human? It goes back to the mutants and zombies topic in class. If it walks, acts and looks like a human, who would ever know it's a robot? And what difference would that honestly make? Anyways, by the end of the film, Ava has reach human civilization, symbolizing her immersion into human life with not a single soul knowing so.
The answer to question 3
ReplyDeleteThe big question that we all want to know the answer too, should we make something with a self-aware self. According to Stephen Hawking, it could be the end of the world and he isn't the only person to think this. We see all the time in films, take the new Avengers age of Ultron movie. The A.I sees everything that the human race has done and decides that the best course of action would be to kill every human. Even in 2008 children's movie Wall-E, the main villain was the A.I in charge of the ship. The fear comes from the fact that these machines will be smarter and stronger than us. In the first, The Matrix movie the humans are enslaved because there is no way of defeating the robots. I am unable to see the future so I cant tell you what will happen. The only thing I will say about the subject is, it's better we make it in the safest way possible then let someone who doesn't know what their doing destroy the world.
Gabrielle Gallant, 1747986, comment #2
ReplyDeleteIn class, we did spend some time to talk about artificial intelligence and what it means to posse’s artificial intelligence. We also developed on, if we were ready for these kinds of robots. What would happen if they became more advanced than us? Ex machine develops on a theory that could be eventually plausible. In this movie, Nathan is trying to prove if his machine possesses artificial intelligence and the robot is going to succeed and even end up killing her creator. Ava, the A.I, looks so real that Caleb feels complete empathy for this machine and helps her escape. This represents the rising slope at the end of the uncanny valley diagram that we drew in class. Another thing is that we read an article called “Us. And Them” and in this movie ava, looking exactly like a human, mixes both of the terms. There is no longer us nor them. In conclusion, this movie was well chosen because it does relate to a lot of the course material we discussed over the semester.
If an AI is fully conscious and self-aware does that mean that it (he/she?) is entitled to the same rights as humans? Do their lives or any other AI’s life equal that of a human? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteYes, I think if AI had full consciousness and self-awareness they should be entitled to not only rights as humans, but also the same duties. Take, for instance, Ava who possesses full consciousness and self-awareness which can be demonstrated through her actions of seducing Caleb and manipulating him for her own good. I believe that her life should be as equal and as valuable as human life since she possesses self-awareness and emotions that are supposedly not a technological response induced by a certain situation, but instead, a natural response. That being said, I think that Ava should be brought to a criminal court and should be punished for her action of killing Nathan and trapping Caleb; in that situation, she would be doing her duty as a conscious, self-aware subject.
FROM ERIN MACKLAN
ReplyDeleteThis movie has a really interesting theme. We discussed a lot about AI and robots in class, so I have a lot of background knowledge without seeing the film. Your blog is really well done and does a good job of explaining the film and its connection to our class. This movie brings up the question if we are ready for robots and for artificial intelligence to take over. I liked that you guys connected this to the uncanny valley. There is always the question of how real the robots are perceived to be, which does play a big role in the film. This is important for Nathan and Ava’s relationship. Great blog with good content and organized thoughts! Well done.