The Strange Truth in 'Her'
Many of you have probably seen (or at least heard about) the new-ish Spike Jones movie, 'Her'....at least, if you haven't been living under a rock for 6 months, you have.
Well, I have finally watched it and it seems to me that to be an, at once, intriguing and incredibly depressing look at relationships...
People change, and most often not 'together' ....in the movie, even a computer operating system changed. Hmmm.
SPOILER ALERT - the basic premise of the movie is that artificial intelligence can benefit and suffer from the same types of 'emotive' changes that we humans do....and that we humans run the risk of interacting with AI systems on an emotional level in the same way that we do each other. And that we can be emotionally destroyed by a computer by an Operating System with which we 'fall in love' in the same way that the loss of 'flesh and blood' love ruins us for a time. All really interesting, if equally sad, stuff.
But, it got me thinking. In brief, a secondary theme of the film is that in modern society, humans live their lives in nearly complete interpersonal isolation, which is what makes them so vulnerable to falling in love with the emotional crutch of a computer Operating System in the first place. But it's not in the future - it's happening now...
As I've been walking around Prague (and remember - this is Prague, not NYC) the last few days since watching the film, I've realized that I'm one of the few people who is not completely immersed in the private world of my headphones. Seriously - its like the whole world has suddenly decided that it requires a soundtrack to go about the day. Doesn't anybody just look around and observe the world as it is, without having their eardrums being drilled by the sound blaring from earbuds? On the metro and the busses, almost everyone has their eyes closed and is totally focused on whats in their ears...the world around me appears as thought it's largely sleepwalking through the day in the sound-induced trance. Wow.
I'm just hoping to make you think - the music will always be there, and the chances are that you're listening to the same playlist on repeat anyway...so why not turn it off and look around and maybe even talk to the person next to you?
Just a thought, as a said...or you could just withdraw into a private bubble and eventually exchange failed human relationships for failed computer relat
Well, I have finally watched it and it seems to me that to be an, at once, intriguing and incredibly depressing look at relationships...
People change, and most often not 'together' ....in the movie, even a computer operating system changed. Hmmm.
SPOILER ALERT - the basic premise of the movie is that artificial intelligence can benefit and suffer from the same types of 'emotive' changes that we humans do....and that we humans run the risk of interacting with AI systems on an emotional level in the same way that we do each other. And that we can be emotionally destroyed by a computer by an Operating System with which we 'fall in love' in the same way that the loss of 'flesh and blood' love ruins us for a time. All really interesting, if equally sad, stuff.
But, it got me thinking. In brief, a secondary theme of the film is that in modern society, humans live their lives in nearly complete interpersonal isolation, which is what makes them so vulnerable to falling in love with the emotional crutch of a computer Operating System in the first place. But it's not in the future - it's happening now...
As I've been walking around Prague (and remember - this is Prague, not NYC) the last few days since watching the film, I've realized that I'm one of the few people who is not completely immersed in the private world of my headphones. Seriously - its like the whole world has suddenly decided that it requires a soundtrack to go about the day. Doesn't anybody just look around and observe the world as it is, without having their eardrums being drilled by the sound blaring from earbuds? On the metro and the busses, almost everyone has their eyes closed and is totally focused on whats in their ears...the world around me appears as thought it's largely sleepwalking through the day in the sound-induced trance. Wow.
I'm just hoping to make you think - the music will always be there, and the chances are that you're listening to the same playlist on repeat anyway...so why not turn it off and look around and maybe even talk to the person next to you?
Just a thought, as a said...or you could just withdraw into a private bubble and eventually exchange failed human relationships for failed computer relat
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