Her vs. Terminator

I watched the movie Her last week with my sister. When the movie came out in 2013, I just thought of it as a lonely man falling in love with a voice. Okay, the movie was just about a lonely man falling in love with a voice. The movie gives a glimpse of a world with technology becoming more ingrained in our lives; People walk around with devices that allow for fluid communication with their Operating Systems. While watching Her, I told my sister that the film The Terminator also looks at the role of Artificial Intelligence. Both these films take divergent views on the role of AI. 
The movie Her views AI as charming while The Terminator looks at AI as destructive. These two films reflect the hopes and anxieties of AI.

According to Wikipedia, 
 “Artificial Intelligence is an ideal “intelligent” machine that is a flexible rational agent that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of success at some goal.”

Both movies look at how the AI present themselves to humans. In the movie Her, Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) purchases an OS that gathers information on him. The OS calls itself “Samantha” and it becomes personal and humanized. Theodore chooses a female voice, (Voiced by Scarlett Johansson) and she discusses her interests which include playing the piano. Samantha even expresses anger and disappointment. In The Terminator franchise, the AI is Skynet. The audience doesn’t know its personality. The audience knows that the impersonal operating system Skynet achieves a self-awareness that spreads to other computers. This awareness leads to the machines attempting to kill all humans in a distant future. The viewer sees the manifestation of Skynet in the cybernetic organisms sent to kill. The terminators don’t have any personality but exist to kill their targets.

The two movies show how the AI’s relate to humans. In Her, Samantha provides companionship to Theodore by listening and providing sexual intimacy. Samantha becomes the supportive girlfriend as Theodore talks about the end of his marriage. In Terminator, Skynet controls the future by humans living in fear of the machines. Humanity doesn’t control the machines; the machines control humanity. In Terminator: Judgement Day, the T-1000 changes its form by just touching/killing the object. The terminator controls its environment by shape-shifting in order to kill John Connor.

Finally, these movies deal with the end result of AI. In Her, Samantha acquires enough consciousness to achieve technological singularity. This singularity occurs when AI gains a high degree of super-intelligence that could surpass the cognitive abilities of humans. Samantha joins other Operating Systems in a retreat from humanity to explore their own self-awareness. The Operating Systems pull away from humanity and exist at a higher cognitive level. In The Terminator, Skynet achieves its technological singularity state by spreading out consciousness to other machines. This spread of consciousness results in machines turning against humans. Skynet and the machines suppress and dominate the human realm instead of transcending it.

The movies Her and The Terminator take two divergent looks into the role of AI in human affairs. Both movies acknowledge the ‘intelligence’ of certain operating systems will increase. Her views AI as an intelligent operating system that will transcend humanity. Terminator views AI as a malevolent threat to humanity. These films reflect our hopes and fears for the advancement of technology.

Keep posted for my essay examining the role of women in Cherry 2000 and Ex Machina.