Ex Machina - Movie Review

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Nathan. This shows that Ava is not very ethical.

There are many philosophical issues present in this film. However, the main problem is whether or not Ava is considered human or if she just merely has artificial intelligence. According to Nathan, and the passing of the Turing test, she is a human being. However, I do not agree with the results or the reasoning. Also, a huge flaw in Nathan’s testing, is Caleb knows that the player is a machine. This is completely different in the original Turing test where the interrogator has no knowledge of whom or what he or she is interviewing.

John Searle is an American philosopher who created the argument and thought experiment known as the Chinese Room. Searle explains the difference between weak artificial intelligence and strong artificial intelligence. Weak artificial intelligence states that a computer is essentially a tool that enables researchers to formulate and test hypotheses in a precise manner. Strong artificial intelligence claims that a computer with appropriate programming is a mind. This type of mind can be said to understand. Searle argues however, that strong intelligence is not possible because you need electrical and chemical processes which are only found in human beings. The idea of the room was he imagines himself alone in a room following a computer program in order to respond to Chinese characters delivered under the door. Searle has no knowledge or former knowledge of Chinese. However, by following the program for understanding Chinese symbols and numbers like the computer does, he is able to produce the correct characters. This leads the outsiders to believe that the person in the room is a Chinese speaker. The conclusion in this argument is that encoding a computer may make it seem like it comprehends the language, but it does not have true understanding. Therefore, this thought experiment challenges the Turing test greatly. Searle concludes that computers use syntactic guidelines to manipulate symbols, but they don’t understand the significance of them. The theory that human minds are processing systems and computer-like are disproven. Instead, the minds of human beings must have biological processes that computers simply cannot emulate (Farmer, 2007).

The famous argument by Searle leads me to believe that although Ava may seem to have human being qualities, she is cannot actually be thought of as an actual human being. She is a machine who was programmed to behave and respond to stimulation in certain ways. I would suggest that Ava has knowledge which is information and only facts. She does not have true intelligence where she has the ability to come to new conclusions based on preexisting knowledge or experiences to use and manipulate it. The Turing test that was initiated in the movie was not done properly, so I do not agree with its accuracy. Simply because the interrogator determines that the machine is a human being, does not mean that it is true. I agree with Searle and his beliefs that in order to be human, the individual must have biological processes occurring in the brain. This was not the case with Ava. Therefore, I do not believe she should be considered a human being.

References

Farmer, J. (2007). The Chinese Room: John Searle and the Implications of Strong A.I. http://www.academia.edu/1245420/The_Chinese_Room_John_Searle_and_the_Implications_of_Strong_A.I

Fumerton, R. & Jeske, D. (Eds.), Introducing philosophy through film: Key texts, discussion, and film selections (pp. 168-186). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Tsao, R. (2015) “Ex Machina” and Philosophy: Some Notes after Wittengenstein. http://roytsao.nyc/2015/04/17/ex-machina-and-philosophy-some-notes-after-wittgenstein/