Two exemplars of AI as Other.
The media salience of artificial intelligence is higher right now than ever before. Movies like Ex Machina and Chappie put AI characters at the center of their plots; even the latest superhero film from Marvel, Avengers: Age of Ultron is about AI. Games like The Talos Principle and Event[0] also feature artificial intelligence as central components of their narrative and gameplay. More than just being 'about AI', these films and games all question our relationship with AI systems. We see these same questions emerging in the news lately too. From fears of replacing human labor to fascinations with machine learning, people are jumping up and down about AI. The representations of AI that we observe - as well as the questions that drive them - all appear to position AI as the Other.
This notion of Otherness precludes the possibility for personal, healthy relationships between people and artificial intelligence. So long as we regard AI as an unknowable or antagonistic force, this Otherness will be at the core of our discussions about AI. Looking at the media representations of AI, we identify three primary archetypes that are invoked:
The antagonistic Killer Robot is at work in games like Event[0] or discussions of military AI. The exploited Service Object exists in representations such as Apple's Siri or Amazon's Echo (both of which are evoke a specific subcategory of The Service Object, the femme-bot. Google's "Deep Dream" image recognition software and other forms of machine learning comprise the most common exemplars of the unknowable Black Box archetype.
- The Killer Robot
- The Service Object
- The Black Box
The antagonistic Killer Robot is at work in games like Event[0] or discussions of military AI. The exploited Service Object exists in representations such as Apple's Siri or Amazon's Echo (both of which are evoke a specific subcategory of The Service Object, the femme-bot. Google's "Deep Dream" image recognition software and other forms of machine learning comprise the most common exemplars of the unknowable Black Box archetype.
Characters like Eva from Ex Machina and Ultron from Avengers: Age of Ultron combine all three archetypes, making them exemplars of the current rhetoric of Otherness that we see in public discourse around AI. Both have no qualms with destroying human life and are pitted as direct antagonists to the main characters of their respective films. Both are constructed as service objects; in Eva's case as one in a series of disposable femme-bots, while in Ultron's case as a tool to secure Earth against conflict. And both are depicted as ultimately unknowable entities to their films' respective protagonists. The archetypes upon which Ultron's and Eva's characters are constructed deny them the possibility of an intimate, personal relationship with a human being. While this makes for great drama in an instance of fiction, it collects within culture to become an essentialized fact of being when left unchallenged.
You and the Garden seeks an alternative to the Otherness of AI, exploring the possibility for a personal and intimate relationship to emerge between player and AI system. This relationship is built on collaboration instead of antagonism; mutual recognition instead of servitude; empathy instead of impossibility. We see games as safe spaces, giving players the permission to explore new social relationships and ways of being. Our garden operates as such a safe space, and we hope that people will find new ways to understand artificial intelligence inside. |