McDaniel
In the last year, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a frequent topic of debate. As AI grows smarter, it becomes more integrated in society. Many fear it’s evolving too quickly, and we don’t understand the impact it’s going to have on the world.
The fear is real, but it’s nothing new. Oscar-winning director James Cameron launched his career 40 years ago with “The Terminator,” a story that imagined the destructive nature of AI in the future. The late, great theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking predicted, “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.”
In the new sci-fi blockbuster “The Creator,” those fears are echoed: in a not-so-distant future, AI drops a nuclear bomb on Los Angeles, incinerating millions. This results in the West (the United States and pals) launching an all-out war against all things AI, while the East (New Asia) fights to protect and preserve AI.
While the story is not as impactful as it could be, it still draws relevance from the concerns we face today.
But at its core (or processor), it’s about mankind’s moral dilemma in battling that which we’ve created in our likeness.
“It’s not real, it’s programming” is the repeated justification for the war. But AI is trained from manmade datasets. Its flaws come from us. And if it’s programmed to feel and think like we do, at what point does AI deserve rights like us? Your perspective on that matter determines whether the film’s war on AI is to be considered a decommissioning or genocide.
The story follows Joshua (John David Washington), an undercover special forces agent who has fallen in love with the enemy while tasked with locating the mysterious Nirmata, the creator of advanced AI that continues being developed. After his comrades launch an early attack on his location, Joshua’s wife is killed by the West’s space station super drone called NOMAD.
Five years later, Nirmata has continued to elude Western troops, and Joshua is still grieving his loss when he’s approached by military brass, who show him that his wife is still alive. They seek his help in finding Nirmata, but more importantly, a dangerous new mega weapon that Nirmata has developed to destroy NOMAD and change the tide of the war.
This powerful AI weapon exists in the form of a cute little girl, Alphie, who we learn isn’t programmed to destroy mankind, but to use its extraordinary powers to stop the war.
Visually, all of this future tech makes the movie thoroughly engaging. Seeing advanced AI integrated into the world, futuristic weapons and vehicles in battle in sprawling villages – it gives “Star Wars” vibes, and there is rarely a dull moment.
The only dullness comes from the dead-eyed Washington, whose monotone and unvarying delivery in the first half of the movie drains some of the excitement and makes him seem less human than the AI he hunts — which I’d consider is an intentional character choice, except he’s the same in his other movies. And while he finishes the performance on a high note, the editing gets sloppy with occasional continuity issues transitioning from scene-to-scene — especially toward the end, as the story feels as if it’s suddenly being rushed to the last page of the script.
At one point in the film, a New Asia villager says, “You can’t beat AI. It’s evolution.” That point is why I wanted the story to be bolder in its proclamations about humans and AI coexisting. But at the least, it offers that “I am Legend” sort of realization, that despite our fears of the other – maybe we humans are the monsters.
4/5 Floppy Disks
Scott McDaniel is an assistant professor of journalism at Franklin College. He lives in Bargersville with his wife and three kids.
