In the 2014 film Ex Machina Nathan, a brilliant scientist and entrepreneur, has created an android with artificial intelligence that he calls Ava. She has an artificial “brain” made of blue gel and her programming incorporates millions of interactions on the internet. Nathan invites Caleb, one of his employees, to investigate whether she can pass the so-called Turning test. According to the Turing test, if an interviewer cannot distinguish a human from an artificial life form, then the artificial life form is thinking and has a mind. However, Nathan makes no effort to disguise her metallic limbs, even though her face is indistinguishable from a human. After several days of “interviews” Caleb observes that she exhibits independent thinking, seems self-aware, and seems to exhibit emotional responses. In short she passes the Turing test.
Is Ava a person?
Does she have a mind? Can Ava
think?
In Ex Machina, the Android Ava is able to pass an imperfect for of the Turing Test that is proctored by Caleb. Although she passed the test, she is still not really a person with a thinking mind. As described in the movie, Ava’s brain is directly connected to the internet of the company BlueBook that Nathan owns. This internet connection is the way that Ava is gaining all of her memories. For example, when Caleb talks to her about specific areas of Massachusetts and New York, she says that she has heard of those places before. Even though she acts like she has heard of these small towns, she has never actually had the experience of learning about them. Her experiences are illegitimate as all of her knowledge is stemming from her internet connection rather than a time where she learned about the geography of New York in school. Most of the experiences that she brings up in conversations are not moments she actually remembers, but rather information she has gotten from her connection to the vast resources of the internet. This example somewhat relates to the philosophical zombie idea, where on the outside, the subject may think and act like a normal human, but on the inside, they are void of real feelings and thoughts. Ava is similar to the zombie in that she can replicate typical human actions even if she does not actually feel those emotions. She can mimic emotions like compassion and care, but in reality, she still is not truly feeling those emotions in her mind. This instance shows that Ava is more similar to a philosophical zombie than a real human as she does not have authentic experiences, and she does not experience real emotions and desires, but rather mimics them.
ReplyDeleteIn Ex Machina, the Android Ava is able to pass an imperfect for of the Turing Test that is proctored by Caleb. Although she passed the test, she is still not really a person with a thinking mind. As described in the movie, Ava’s brain is directly connected to the internet of the company BlueBook that Nathan owns. This internet connection is the way that Ava is gaining all of her memories. For example, when Caleb talks to her about specific areas of Massachusetts and New York, she says that she has heard of those places before. Even though she acts like she has heard of these small towns, she has never actually had the experience of learning about them. Her experiences are illegitimate as all of her knowledge is stemming from her internet connection rather than a time where she learned about the geography of New York in school. Most of the experiences that she brings up in conversations are not moments she actually remembers, but rather information she has gotten from her connection to the vast resources of the internet. This example somewhat relates to the philosophical zombie idea, where on the outside, the subject may think and act like a normal human, but on the inside, they are void of real feelings and thoughts. Ava is similar to the zombie in that she can replicate typical human actions even if she does not actually feel those emotions. She can mimic emotions like compassion and care, but in reality, she still is not truly feeling those emotions in her mind. This instance shows that Ava is more similar to a philosophical zombie than a real human as she does not have authentic experiences, and she does not experience real emotions and desires, but rather mimics them.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie Ex Machina, robot Ava created by scientist Nathan, can not be considered a person since her mind does not function under the same neurological thinking as a human being. Under a study conducted by Nathan, Ava was able to interact with a man named Caleb. He asked her questions based on human traits such as emotions and connections. Her responses were genericaly human-like and she presented characteristics that seemed realistic. In the scene when the cameras switched off and Nathan no longer was watching Ava interacting with Caleb, she warned him not to trust others and that he should know he is unsafe. This would seem like a human trait coming from Ava, however in reality her brain is made up of wires and plastic and so when she reacts and displays those concerned emotions, it's just her system customizing the correct outward response. This explains why Ava can be a nonhuman thing with a mind. In Dialogue on Consciousness, by John Perry, Gretchen asks the question of, can a zombie have a mind? This is answered by stating that to be human you must have experiences and consciousness, both things neither Zombies or robots have. When looking inside a Robot's brain nothing but silicone-based structure such as the one in Ava can be seen. In some sense Ava understands that when a joke is told her reaction must be to laugh, however there is no human connection that helps her understand why the joke is considered funny. She is more alike to Weirobs dog, Penelope who signals when she is hungry, rather than to a human who cries when they are sad.
ReplyDeleteThe android Ava from the film Ex Machina is not a person, does not have a mind, and does not think. Ava's "brain" is a blue gel that uses data from the internet to format the appearance of a personality. Thus, Ava passed the Turing test because her hardware allows her to replicate a person, yet passing the Turing test alone does not define personhood. Just because Ava can convince Caleb that he is having a conversation with a person does not mean that Ava has a mind and can think. Instead, though Ava's hardware is functionally similar to a human brain, Ava more closely resembles a philosophical zombie rather than a person. This is because Ava's understanding of the world is not an understanding; it is a collection of data obtained through a third party and not through personal experience. For example, when Caleb describes his hometown, Ava says she has heard of it, even though Ava has never left Nathan's compound and did not gain this information through experience. Ava cannot remember how a person remembers because that would require a person's emotional and sensory responses. Ava is a philosophical zombie because she can acknowledge the existence of a place or emotion, but is incapable of replicating them genuinely. Like a philosophical zombie, Ava has hardware that works like a brain but cannot have a mind. Ava does not have a mind because a massive collection of data cannot create a mind. The mind is a separate entity from the functional brain. Ava uses data from the internet but is not a thinking being because thinking must come from the mind. Ava's hardware does not allow her to feel emotions truly. Instead, she mimics emotion. Ava's person like appearance and demeanor are not enough to make her a thinking person with a mind because she is still merely a computer.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie Ex Machina, the robot character, Ava who was created by scientist Nathan is not capable of having a functioning mind; therefore, she cannot be a human being. Her mind is connected to some internet source owned by the scientist, Nathan. The only way she can “function” is because she has complete access to the internet, at all times. Nathan can filter and control what types of information goes in and out, because he owns the internet source. She presents herself in a way that makes it seem like she has experienced everything. For example, she knows of certain places and emotions, but she maybe has not been to all the states, countries etc., or experienced all types of feelings. This proves that her experiences are not authentic as she uses her database to feel certain things and know what specific places look like. She cannot be human because she is not in control of her thoughts, feelings or memories. Everything has been generated through a database. This relates to the question that Gretchen W asks in Dialogue of Consciousness. She asks if zombies have minds, which generates a whole discussion. The answer to the question is that in order to qualify as a human being you must have consciousness and experiences, as well as consciousness during those experiences. Zombie figures do not portray either of those characteristics. This connects back to Ava, because her responses to conversation are auto generated. Meaning she does not actually process or experience anything, her program just reacts. For example, Caleb tells Ava a joke… her program recognizes the joke and auto generates a laugh. That response is not Ava consciously choosing to laugh. Ava can use cues and signals to determine what she wants because she has complete access to an internet base. She cannot generate real or authentic emotional responses or memories.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie Ex Machina, Ava is not a person because she does not have a human brain or mind. In the material world, we believe the mind lives in the human brain and is responsible for feelings. Ava has a “brain” programmed by humans that supposedly allows her to adapt and think. But by comparing Ava to a common computer, we can understand that Ava only has the ability to evaluate events but not actually think or experience them. Computers and Ava’s programmed “brain” allows both to evaluate the events of the human’s brains, but without a human brain the process of adapting and thinking is not actually their own. This process in unattainable for computers and Ava because without a human brain, they do not have a mind, and the mind is responsible for the feelings that allow humans to experience, think, and feel events. This proves Ava is able to understand the events of feelings because of her programming but she cannot experience feelings. We can use the example of the philosophical zombie to understand the situation of Ava. The world of philosophical zombies is the exact same as the real world, but the zombies have brains without minds. In this world, there are events with no experiences. For example, if a zombie is hit in the head with a bat, the zombie says “ow.” The zombie knew that it should say “ow” because the event will hurt, but the zombie does not experience the pain because it does not have a mind. Since Ava has a programmed non-human brain, she only understands the events of humans but does not actually experience feelings because she does not have a mind.
ReplyDeleteAva is a person, although not human in the physical sense, because she is able to think, emote, and be self-aware. Functionalism, or the idea that something is defined by its functionality, denotes that there can be physical differences without differences in identity, as long as function is identical. Therefore, the ability for higher-level reasoning-the level associated with humans- is the only necessary criteria for personhood.
ReplyDeleteEven though she does not have a human brain, Ava does have a mind. Because it was established that she is a person according to functionalism, it follows that this mind must allow her to think and have higher-level reasoning. Thus, cases of artificial intelligence such as Ava prove that thinking, and therefore one's identity as a person, must come from somewhere other than the physical brain- that is, the mind.
The fact that Ava passes the Turing test, even though Nathan does not make an attempt to hide her non-human composition, further demonstrates that physical humanness is not a necessary criteria for personhood. At first, Caleb is skeptical because he can see the mechanical makeup of the AI's body and "brain". However, Ava repeatedly demonstrates her ability to think and emote independently of Nathan, eventually leading Caleb to determine that she does pass the test even before she becomes physically indiscernible from a human by putting on clothes.
In the film, Ex Machina, there is an android that goes by the name of Eva, and the question arises, can she be considered a human being? Debunking the concept of the identity view, Eva is not a human, but a mere philosophical zombie. The entire concept of androids is for machinery to mimic the actions of humans as best as possible, and with scientific advancements displayed throughout the movie, Nathan, a brilliant scientist is capable of creating Eva, who is linked to the popular search engine, Bluebook. This is one of the most advanced androids of their time, and is capable of enacting in complex dialogue, even being able to pass the Turning Test, which establishes the closeness of something’s mind to that of a human being. Despite being able to pass the Turning Test, one cannot consider Eva to be human, as she is incapable of obtaining an individual will. She can interact with almost all types of dialogue through her connection with Bluebook, but is incapable of feeling sensations or enacting upon her own individual emotions. She is merely a hive-mind of data collected from the questions and responses found online. Through the concept of Eva being able to enact in human interaction, but not have an individual sensation towards interaction, she becomes a philosophical zombie. A philosophical zombie goes against the identity theory which states that our behavior is based on neurophysiological responses to certain actions. Eva, being a machine, has no neurons in her body, and lacks the framework of a human being that legitimizes her identity under the identity theory, despite her passing the Turning Test. Without an individual will, and framework that establishes Eva’s own interactions with the environment around her, she is an anomaly against the arguments of the identity theory.
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ReplyDeleteIn the film Ex Machina, the android Ava, despite passing the Turing test, is not a person, does not have a mind, and can not think. Everything about her is artificial, most importantly her “brain”. It is made of a blue gel and allows her constant unlimited access to the internet. This clearly functions incredibly different from a human brain with only knowledge of past experiences and memories. While she may be able to make conversation, leading someone like Caleb to believe that she is human, she is not. As Caleb converses with her and shares memories from his life, she makes connections with knowledge that she seemingly possesses, however, this knowledge is completely artificial. Caleb shares details about his life through personal memories and experiences, but when Ava responds the knowledge that she has is no different than the impersonal experience of a google search. Ava’s situation is similar to that of the philosophical zombie in the sense that she can appear human through outward interaction, but only because she is replicating others and not because she actually feels emotion or remembers personal experiences. Nathan’s goal for Ava is to pass the Turing test, therefore all of her actions are done in an attempt to reach this goal. To appear human she must mimic humans through emotion and conversation. Just because she passes the Turing test does not mean that she is human because that simply demonstrates how well she can use her artificial brain and mimic emotions, but not that she actually experiences these things within herself. With these conditions in mind, she is fundamentally not human, and whatever “thoughts” she has are just a direct result of access to the internet, but she has no true feelings.
In the 2014, film Ex Machina, a scientist named Nathan creates an android with artificial intelligence, and her name is Ava. Nathan has done everything in order to make her as human as possible, but in the end, she is still a robot and not a human. Her body is that of a robot, but the question is, does she have a mind and can she think? Ava has something similar to a brain, but it is just information that has been compiled up into her memory, she can only think or imagine what she knows. Her mind is not real it is something that has been made up based on what Nathan has programed her to say and know. Yes she is able to continue a conversation and understand people’s feelings, but she does not feel anything, she cannot sympathize for anyone. For example when she is speaking with Nathan intern, she listens to his stories and what he has to say. He begins to share meaningful things with her, and she is able to respond. However she never really understand how he feels, she is just able answer his questions with the ideas and thought that have been programed into her brain. Can Ava think? Ava cannot think, but she seems to be able to understand when to say things and when not to say things. She does not really think, she is just doing what she is programed to do. In the end I feel that Ava is more of a “Philosophical Zombie” then an actually human.
ReplyDeleteEva is not a person. She is a robot by very definition. She can think in a strange sense but she doesn't have a mind. She can compute how a person would react and react as such. She reacts how she does because she is programmed to react how a person would. She is essentially mimicking human behavior. The fact that she was created by a person is the reason why she can react so similarly to one. If she wasn't created by a person, but rather an alien type being or another intelligent creature, she would not be as indistinguishable. She is not a person because her mind is a computer. It can be argued that it doesn't matter what her "mind" is made of, she receives the same input as a person and has the same outputs. This is not the case. She receives the same input but the output is not the same. It seems the same because that’s what she is meant to do. Her function is not that of a person, her function is to be as indistinguishable to a person as possible. She can “think” but her version of thinking is not how a person thinks. It is closer to how a computer knows what results to give when someone types certain words into a search engine. Someone says something to Eva and she responds in kind. This concept is easy to understand through the current technology that is “Alexa”. Alexa responds to certain words or questions similarly to a human but it is not a human. The only reason why Eva is debated is because she is shaped like a human.
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In the movie, Ex Machnia a scientist made an artificial intelligent robot named Ava. Ava passes the Turning-test, which test to see if a human can distinguish if they are talking to AI or a human. Ava has a brain, but it is not a human brain, because it is made from different materials and is artificial and does not directly come from a human. In some scenes of the movie, it is convincing that Ava may have her own mind and can make decisions, develop opinions and have beliefs. Though it may be convincing, Ava does not completely have her own mind. The theory of functionalism says that the mind is solely defined by its function, thus the mind is directly influence by its interactions with its environment. When Ava was created, she was connected to the internet, meaning she is an all-knowing being. Because Ava has the influence from the internet and all information, she does not completely have a mind, which can develop thoughts and opinion. Her responses to question and ability to have a conversation is all taken from the internet and analyzed. During a conversation, Ava mentions that when she was born she already knew how to talk and communicate. Our minds do not have the ability to do that, buts her brain does because she has access to all information. Though Ava looks like us, that does not determine that she has her own individual thinking mind because she just an advanced programed computer system.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie Ex Machina, the artificially created robot, Ava, is not a person despite having passed the Turing Test. Ava’s “brain” is made of a blue gel that is connected to and feeds from the internet of the company BlueBook that her creator, Nathan, owns. From that internet connection, Ava is able to use data in order to fabricate and mimic a human’s actions and thoughts while not truly experiencing any of them as she does not have a conscious mind. Even when Ava claims to remember specific names of places or ideas, she has never truly experienced any of it and it is all just programmed into her and is data that is being regurgitated from the internet that are meant to be perceived as memories and knowledge. Her body operates more as a system or function where something is plugged in, and Ava has been programmed to respond accordingly. Even with her emotions, she is programmed to feel certain “emotions” or at least mimic them when posed with a scenario that calls for a reaction. Thus concluding that her emotions, thoughts, and memories are illegitimate and derived from the internet. More than just passing the turing test, one needs to have a mind in order to think and feel for themselves rather than mimic and replicate those responses or appearance of emotions. This is similar to what one considers a zombie as a philosophical idea. A zombie appears to be human and just the same as any other living human being, but lacks the ability to feel and have that conscious mind which Ava does as well thus invalidating the idea that she could possibly be human, but rather is just a machine provided with the resources to replicate and mimic that human like behavior. Ava’s presence as a human is artificial and therefore does not have a mind of consciousness and cannot be a human.
ReplyDeleteAva is a person because she has a mind and is able to think on her own. In the scene when the power goes out, Ava demonstrates awareness that Nathan can no longer see or hear what is happening within her conversation with Caleb, so she makes her own conscious decision to warn Caleb about Nathan. Although she has been programmed by internet data, in the power outage scene she portrays that she is not just the information she has been programmed with, but rather, her own person as she acts instinctively. How Ava reacts in this situation is not something that can be programmed, therefore she portrays that she has her own consciousness and is able to form her own independent thoughts. Ava cannot be considered a human, as she has an artificially created brain made out of blue gel, very different from a human's brain, but because she is able to think, Ava has a mind and can therefore be considered a person. Also, she passes the Turing test, demonstrating that humans would view her as a person because she seems to think, have emotional responses, and be self-aware. Caleb can see that Ava is a machine, but he still determines that she passes the Turing test, implying that it is the mind view of personal identity, not the body view, that identifies a person. Ava definitely does not have the same physical composition as humans, but because she has her own functional mind, she is a person.
ReplyDeleteIf the term person can be defined as not a human being but a conscious being that can think and feel, Ava can be considered a person because she has an organ that functions similarly to a human brain and has clear evidence of the possession of independent thoughts and feelings. It is important to start by noting that Ava could never be considered human. However, although she can never be human by scientific definition, she still has many of the same mental qualities as humans. Therefore the real question is not is Ava a human, but is she a person (for lack of a better word) defined as a conscious being that can think and feel. While most people would consider a person someone who has a human brain, it is also a feasible concept that a being could be conscious with something that works similarly to a human brain without it being made up of the same material. In Ava’s case, while her brain is not made up of muscle tissue like humans, it is made up of a blue, gel-like substance that is malleable and can adapt just like a human brain. Although Ava did not gain her initial knowledge in the same way that humans do, she is still able to create new memories, learn things, and feel emotions as a human could. A prime example of this is the fact that she can synthesize her memories with other people and form opinions based on her experiences. This was shown in the movie when Ava was talking about how she doesn't like her creator because of all of the bad things he had done to her and the housekeeper robot. This characteristic distinguishes her from normal robots, as most computers are able to store memory but are unable to create opinions about those memories. An example is Amazon Alexa. Alexa is an AI, but she would not know the difference if you were mean or nice to her, and she would respond to you the same either way. With Ava on the other hand, she has the autonomy to react how she pleases and judge the behaviors of others like a human would.
ReplyDeleteDo these things make Ava a person? While there is no true definition of what Ava is other than AI at this point, the fact that she has a consciousness equipped with feelings, experiences, and a personality is enough to prove that the possibility of her being a person is not far-fetched.
In the film Ex-Machina, Ava, a robot is seen to exhibit strikingly human-like physical characteristics and traits. Her face is almost indistinguishable from an actual human’s face, she appears to be a thinking being who can process what is being said or asked of her and give a physical response, and she appears to exhibit emotions and take a liking towards Caleb (at least from the clip of the film that was shown). While Ava seemingly contains these extraordinary abilities and characteristics of people (ie: thinking, has a mind, etc.), she cannot be considered a person because of one main principle: Ava was programmed into existence by Nathan for the sole purpose of passing the Turing test which conflicts with the Philosophical Zombie argument. Before I explain how the Philosophical Zombie conflicts with Ava, let’s define the Philosophical Zombie. In the scenario of the Philosophical Zombie, there is a world that is imaginary and filled with zombies without consciousness but indistinguishable from the real world. Let’s say that a zombie gets its arm cut off by another zombie. The injured zombie would say something like, “Ow!” However, even though the zombie’s arm was severed, he doesn’t really experience since he doesn’t have a conscience or a mind, which is necessary to have experiences. Connecting this principle to Ex-Machina, Nathan's main goal for Ava was to see if she could pass the Turing test and see if artificial intelligence can be indistinguishable by a person. So, he designed her to have attributes that are similar to a regular person, but not of a person. That means that any of the traits that Ava seemed to exhibit (ie: having a consciousness, having the ability to think and respond to Caleb, the ability to feel, etc.) were not actually traits that she experienced. Therefore, Ava cannot be considered a person because of the fact that she doesn’t actually experience any of the traits that Nathan programmed her to have.
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