Artificial Intelligence in Upgrade(2018)

In the 2018 film Upgrade, the world is full of technology from a seemingly not so distant future. State of the art technology, specifically artificial intelligence, is not simply a part of this future to add to the atmosphere, it is a focal point. The film opens very subtly with in a garage with a man working on a classic 70’s Pontiac Trans Am where, upon finishing his work upon said car, celebrates with a beer. The opening serves as a way to show that the man, Grey Trace, has a passion for the classic and, as later revealed, doesn’t jive with the new technology that is defining the new world. Moreover, this scene serves as a stark contrast to the world we are about to be introduced to.

Following the opening, we see Grey’s wife Asha arriving home in a self-driving voice activated car. After meeting with Grey they both go inside where they are welcomed by their home, this is another voice controlled AI. Less than 5 minutes into the film, the audience should now be well aware that technology and specifically Artificial Intelligence, will be a major plot device. Grey tells his wife they must deliver the now finished 70’s Pontiac Trans Am to the customer who has purchased it. He comments that she has to see his customers house. This has several implications, first it shows that in a world rife with electronics far more advanced than our own that older, perhaps considered classic, technology is a rarity, toys or collectables for the elite of society. Secondly, it shows that Grey himself is a rarity, someone who has stuck with the old way of doing things as opposed to running with social norms for unknown reasons. Upon arriving at his customers house, it is revealed that his customer is a famous technology inventor, Eron. He shows them an Artificial Intelligence chip called STEM that he says will change the world. Grey and Asha then leave but on the way home their car, controlled by AI, “malfunctions” and they are taken to rough neighborhood where they get in an accident. They are then dragged from the car where we see drones with AI flying above recording the interaction and using facial recognition to identify the people involved, all while calling the police. Meanwhile, Asha is shot and killed but Grey is left paralyzed and later it is revealed that the criminals could not be recognized by the drone.

The movie fast forwards 3 months where we see Grey trying to function without use of his arms and legs, depressed over the loss of his wife and seemingly giving up on life. After a suicide attempt, he is visited by Eron who offers to implant his AI chip STEM into Grey’s body allowing him to regain function of his body. This is said to work by the AI chip interpreting his thoughts and performing the functions of the nerve endings for him. Grey proceeds with the operation and it is revealed the AI STEM has a voice that only Grey can hear. STEM has many unique abilities such as being able to observe and remember fine details Grey could not, use Grey’s body (with permission) with much improved dexterity, scan computer databases, and otherwise give him advice. The rest of the film, the bulk of it, is spent with Grey/STEM attempting to track down the criminals that murdered Grey’s wife. The road to the end is far from smooth and raises many ethical and safety related questions regarding AI however, with STEM we do see AI in the film reach its apex, as other AI seem completely inferior.

As stated, Upgrade moves the plot using AI as a central focus but moreover, it uses the lack of ethics and safety regarding AI and its use as a driver for the plot as a whole. If an AI commits a crime that you did not instruct it to commit are you responsible? What if the AI commits a crime based on learned behavior that the user gave it as input? If we allow AI to control very important choices in our lives is it the AI’s choice or our own that came to the conclusion? How does AI view us, as human or as another AI, inferior or superior? These are just a few of the questions presented to the audience as well as more traditional AI questions: freewill for AI, how much is too much, etc.

Two main types of AI are presented in the film, the first in a form similar but more advanced than the AI we see in present day. These are the self-driving voice activated car, the drones, the voice activated house, etc. The second form being that of STEM, the chip implanted that seems have capabilities far beyond that of any present AI or human for that matter. The environments for the car AI are partially observable, stochastic, sequential, dynamic , and continuous. The car itself cannot determine what other drivers on the road will be doing and thus has a partially observable environment, the outcome is stochastic for many reasons including mechanical issues and traffic, the outcome will be sequential meaning that short term decisions made by the car can and likely will have a long term consequence, the environment is dynamic as it must keep moving (changing its environment), lastly the environment is continuous in the sense that the car must take actions that are continuous but also because it must take in continuous values over time. The same logic would apply for the drones as well, as essentially they are self flying machines that operate with AI very similarly to a self driving car. For the house, again the same logic would follow with the only difference being the house is not moving however other people arriving, unknown external factors such as natural disaster, parasites, peoples wants and needs, etc will keep the environment partially observable, stochastic, sequential, dynamic, and continuous. Moving on, we must think much harder on how to define STEM as an AI. STEM itself is actually more superhuman without form than AI as we know it. This means defining what STEM’s task actually is becomes more difficult, indeed this becomes a major plot point in the film. We are led to believe that STEM’s task, at first is simply to aid Grey so we will go with that task environment. From this standpoint, the environment would be partially observable, stochastic, sequential, dynamic, and continuous very similar to the other AI in the film. The environment is partially observable due to the nature of being embedded into Grey who, especially in his altered mental state, is moving around increasingly around determinable factors, in fact all the other variables are quite similar to the car. While many times more sophisticated the environment for Grey and STEM is simply the environment for Grey. STEM uses Grey’s senses as sensors, as well as a highly advanced computer system (seemingly).

Now lets discuss how to implement the AI in the movie. The AI introduced in the early stages of the film exists, at least partially or in theory. A self-driving car is not science fiction, a self flying drones are already being used, and robots that assist humans are already being put into action on the consumer level (roomba for example). The level of sophistication presented with these AI technologies in Upgrade however has not quite been achieved. We don’t quite have complete hands off, zero error, no maintenance required, learning without input machines. To implement such AI would require that input be gathered, stored, and utilized properly for new and unique tasks by the machines themselves. STEM is a simple chip that contains a highly intelligent, thinking AI. This chip is made to be surgically implanted into the spine of a human. STEM interfaces with the body and can aide in all tasks from here. The required technology here is significantly beyond human reach for many reasons. Let’s start with the chip itself, the chip would need to hold more data than a human brain can possibly hold while being able to constantly reprogram itself for new tasks, learn from its surroundings, and be the most sophisticated computer on the planet. Needless to say, this would be hard to fit into a microchip the size of your pinky nail. The AI would also need to know how to interface with the human body, as well as be able to use the body’s “sensors” far beyond human capabilities. While these AI technologies are far in the realm of science fiction,they do raise many ethical questions.

In the film, STEM and Grey do many questionable things including criminal activities. At first these acts seem to be in Grey’s interest before clearly blurring the line between who is controlling who. In the end, STEM is extremely unsafe for both Grey and those around him. As STEM seems to gain more control over Grey, Grey seems to lose more of himself until in the end STEM is able to fully control Grey on its own will. Perhaps the film writers simply intended for this to be a high action thriller with a not so happy ending but it also serves as a warning to humans, how far will we push technology before technology starts pushing back.

Lately, high profile names have been in the news already calling for regulations on artificial intelligence, people such as Bill Gates and Elon Musk. The story of Upgrade is a future that perhaps these men see possible, where people are less needed than AI technologies. Perhaps we can learn from Upgrade that technologies should have limits just as humans do. Not that we should have to accept a poor quality life when technology can provide a better one, but know when we should sacrifice quality of life for freedom. Freedom in this sense would have a whole new meaning as seen in Upgrade. The early scenes Grey, a man free of modern technology, appreciating his own humanity without the need to rely on AI. When I think back on Upgrade I’ll remember many moments but the transition of Grey, from a “free” not AI reliant man who drives and works on classic muscle cars to a completely dependent (willingly) upon STEM to function man to a brainless husk controlled by an AI, will stick with me the longest. Indeed, this transition serves as a warning to humans regarding AI technologies, be cautious with how much you must sacrifice to follow your ambitions.