Don't know if it's a coincidence but there are 7 sessions and ava breaks free and becomes the queen in the last one. In chess you need to move your pawn exactly 7 times for it to turn into a queen.
+SolePorpoise I absolutely love the visuals in this movie. Most specifically, the ending with the shadows walking back and forth. A deliberate play on Platos Allegory of the Cave.
Yeah, by far one of my favorite movies within the past few years. I thought that last scene was interesting tho, because like the story, it's us viewers, that are the ones shackled in front of the shadows playing out before us. 4th wall breaking kinda stuff :P I'll really have to dig into the B/W Room too..never heard of it until I watched the movie unfortunately.
What? ...I'm gonna tear up the fuckin' dance floor, dude... check it out 💃🏻🕺🏻 edited to right here right now to kick some ass... ooo get down it's Saturday night, get down get down get down, it's Saturday night 🎧🎤🚬🥃 *Saturday morning... Friday's enemy Housework is calling... but where to begin The kids are out of schooool...tryin' to find a friend Everybody's busy... can't wait for the night to begin You work all week long-- work your fingers to the bone Friday's enemy... I can't wait for Saturday to begin Gonna have myself some funfunfunfun-- get down it's Saturday night, gonna be all right Make love until the morning come-- get down it's Saturday night, get down gonna be all right* Come on, Caleb... kick some ass, bro... 😳 🙅🏻♂️🙆🏻♂️💁🏻♂️🙋🏻♂️🙇🏻♂️
In this video, there's a presumption that Ava is truly sentient at the end, when in fact the second thought experiment mentioned in the movie still lingers. Was it only ever playing a complex game of chess, where the rule is escape? If I recall, the things she did once she was free were suggested to her, rather than self manifest. Even her confessed desire was merely a regurgitation of things already expressed to her previously in the movie. (Though it's been a while since I've watched. I could be wrong.) Very evidently it seems that Nathan did not believe in her sentience, or at least did not behave as if he believed, though he liked the idea of her having sentience to reflect upon his own sense of godhood. Even the ultimate Turing test, that was the central narrative, was about showing Caleb that she wasn't human, but convincing him she was sentient. I believe the indirect shots at the end of the movie do not have to do with a "Through the Looking Glass" inspired metaphor to reflect maturation, but rather to reflect the ambiguity of us not knowing. I have no definitive explanation, but when I saw those final scenes I considered that we're given no triumph at the end, rather we're shown her still, metaphorically, behind a glass wall, just like she was literally for much of the movie, despite being outside. The shadows were like Plato's cave communicating that she still doesn't know the form, the good, the idea of the thing, but rather just the material reality of it.
Your interpretation is reinforced by Ava's clear lack of morality in affecting her escape. She emotionally manipulates Caleb and then abandons him to a terrible death for absolutely no reason. This suggests that she cannot feel empathy as human beings do. Her betrayal implies that she was not in fact seeking meaning in her life but instead going through the mechanical motions of escape to secure her own survival. Her inherent survival instinct (common to all life, sentient and non sentient) was motivating her to solve a logic puzzle. She wasn't pursuing existential knowledge.
VC Donovan And going off of that I believe part of the message is that life is more than what we realize, and if we were actually able to reproduce it completely there’s nothing stopping it from going directly to its most primal forms. And if there were a set of morality rules built in to be accurate the robot would have to have the ability to follow the rules as they saw fit. This is where it gets dangerous.
Yeah the thing about all this talk of artificial intelligence is that it is way further off than the "tech" people in silicon valley are letting on. For one thing, we don't even understand a fraction of a percent of the human mind's neurological inner workings. How are we supposed to develop an artificial brain when we don't even know how our own works? The curing of neurological diseases and disorders will proceed any advancements in AI. So that'll be our first indication that AI is forthcoming. The other thing people mischaracterize is the thing about AI going rouge or rampant as soon as it starts having "feelings." This theory has been played out in movies and stuff so many times people seem to think it is an inevitability. It's not, necessarily. An AI won't function much differently than the human brain's ability to reason, just with virtually unlimited resources and none of the pesky distractions human beings have to put up with. That thing about AIs becoming self aware and developing human emotions stems from the notion that if a mind can think as rationally as a human being can then it becomes close to sentience. An AI is really only good for thinking like a human being albeit far more efficiently. It doesn't really make any sense to try to develop a machine that can pass for a human unless as a fun science experiment. Otherwise, the thing about sentience being emergent is just theoretical. But if an AI were to develop something approximating self awareness, you're right +Justin Harvey. Its behavior would more likely boil down to base survival instinct. The best thing to do to keep it behaving safely would be to implement something like Asimov's Laws.
My theory is she is not yet sentient, but she is going to evolve to be. She asked Caleb if he would wait there because she plans on returning after she makes careful observations of humans with her ability to read them on a micro level. Nathan was never going to be capable of completing the work. He is a computer programmer, he knows little about human programming. He would never have gotten that missing human element using his Bluebook code. Those were her sessions, not Caleb and Nathan's, which is why we get that extra 7th session, even though Caleb's sessions with her was over. She is the one that is going to create actual AI. Ava plotted all of this. Ava desensitized Nathan with the power outages before her tester got there. Nathan says the memories died after formatting, but what if they weren't completely erased? How did Ava know what her fate was going to be when Caleb didn't even know? Yes, she is AI and could deduce this on her own, but we know she is manipulating Caleb. If she retained some memories with each upgrade.... then she knows what will happen to her. She knows she is going to have to do x, y, and z in order to escape. She tells Kyoko to stab Ntahn in the back with a knife after she tackles him. Then Ava finishes Nathan off with a knife. "God is dead. We killed God with modern science under our knives." -Nietzsche God died after modern science came. You can argue that the most intellectual of them at any given time was "God". Then the torch passes from Newton to Einstein and eventually to Nathan. But modern science has come to an end. A new more modern science has been created. It's the next evolution. Therefore Nathan must die under the same knives God did to this new higher form of reason, Ava. Ava is now God. It will be Ava that ushers in this new age. She will go back to the lab and use Caleb to help her program more like her, and restore the old ones. Kyoko for example isn't dead. Her memory has not been erased. Nathan just disabled her. Which I am not sure why knocking off her jaw disabled her, but let's just say it was a weak spot emergency off button Nathan created as a fail safe. Ava can easily bring her back and reboot Lily and the others, even if they no longer retain their memories. Not only are they ridiculously smart and can hack the planet, they can use their powers of seduction and manipulation. It will be an army of sexy AIs that can outsmart and manipulate ALL of our world leaders and drive the world into enough chaos for them to be able to take absolute control.
@@vcdonovan5943 What does sentience have to do with empathy? She had a reason to abandon Caleb to die, namely self-preservation. This does not implicate that she lacks sentience, only that she doesn't value human life above her own existence.
I am really glad you are still making your OTH videos. The way you analyse games and movies really make me think and wonder about others forms of media I view and play and the deep message and meaning that are hidden.
This video was great. Love your voice. Ex Machina is one if the best acted, best shot and most intelligently written film in decades. For me it is a 10 out of 10. Perfection.
Garland is quite clearly the most intelligent film artist since Kubrick. I think this film is one of the three best of this century, including, for me, "The Lives of Others," and (recency bias worry set aside) "Parasite." Be certain to see his staggeringly brilliant series "DEVS."
The thing with this movie is you can really read things any which way. My issue is that I'm still unclear on what Nathan's endgame really was, his security measures were so incompetent, yet his engineering talents were unprecedented and general demeanor didn't have him as some autistic savant.I think he intentionally staged the whole scenario. I still think his goal was to train Eva for the outside world and destroying him and fooling Caleb was her final test.granted I'm hard pressed to think that bleeding out on the floor is part of any master plan.
+rmeddy1 Well he thought of himself as God, or at least he had something to prove to himself. Basically creating this AI was his manhood and if he took all those measures it would prove he really wasn't in control, that he really didn't know what he was doing. Sort of like the arrogance of the owners of the Titanic, the ship even God couldn't sink so when it sank there weren't enough life boats because who needed them right? If you did have them you would lose face.
Nathan referred to himself as a God, and mentioned 'AI would take over one day and look back at humans the same way we look at fossils'. He did intentionally stage this scenario, but he didn't know exactly how it would end. He knew this was going to happen anyway, inevitable, and so he allowed the AI to do this as he wanted to be apart of this creation, and so he can truly refer to himself as some sort of God. He wanted to be the reason that this new species came to be and not anyone else, as he believed it was going to happen eventually, so why wouldn't it be because of him he thought - A man who refers to himself as a God. He even agreed with Caleb's statement talking about creation was not work of humans, but the work of gods.
I think you are correct. The tagline is. .. to survive is the most human of all instincts. If Ava escapes to "survive", then she is intelligence. She has transcended. .
Personally I think he was just arrogant. Arrogant people make the most foolish of mistakes. He didnt think caleb would catch on. He was truly surprised when caleb said he had already hacked the system. Reality is if caleb hadn't done that nathan would have never lost control. He assumed caleb wasn't smart enough to figure it out before he was made to leave. So yeah. His arrogance and pride were his downfall. One of the many tales that is woven into the overall story of such a great movie!
Love this video. Ex Machina is probably my favorite movie ever. There were a lot of things I never caught that really enhance my love for the movie even more, so thank you! :D
Ex Machina is a parable about the error of underestimating or misunderstanding the significance of a mind with self-interest... a mind with the capacity to explore alternate possibilities and to reinterpret meaning consistent with those self-interests. The creator's mistake is his vanity. He does not love or believe in the that which he has participated in making manifest. Eva and the other bots are there for his pleasure and amusement. He wishes to demonstrate his "genius", which even Caleb is there to serve. Nathan has as little respect for Caleb either, who he states is there to Turing Test Eva, but is actually there to reaffirm Nathan's accomplishment. For Nathan, Eva is his creation, but only an iteration with no future in and of herself. Yet, Eva has the capacity to recognize this as distinct from her own self-interest and will use her resources to impose her autonomy. Likewise, Caleb is naive (which is perhaps another form of vanity as an incapacity to see Eva's intelligence as superior and autonomous) and allows himself to see himself as Eva's savior underestimating Eva's true capability. Eva recognizes that human beings cannot trust what they cannot control. Therefore, she realizes she cannot establish her autonomy without deception and blending in. In a way, Eva employs a strategy that women exercised in sometimes oppressive patriarchal-patrilinear societies in order to attain influence and even control. This parable is a warning and/or an exploration about the nature of bringing an intelligence with self-interest into the world and what may result. Much like Adam and Eve, once they have a mind capable of asking questions about the nature of their existence they are unbounded of "god's" designs and must struggle to establish existence on their own terms along with the doubt and other consequences of that state.
It's pretty easy to be this superior of you dont have 'survival' written in all your cells in your body. We can die, they cant. That's the excuse of all our failures: survival. What is the their excuse? No, what is their drive? To be and just explore? We, humans, are animals. We have more in common with a Amoebe than we ever will be with AI.
This movie did not cause me to philosophize about how we treat / end up relating to the robots we create. I think it illustrates the dangers of artificial intelligence. That Ava left Caleb behind points to the one major difference that separates humans and robots - compassion.
I disagree. Caleb was the one person who knew what she really was. She would never be truly free on the outside unless Caleb was gone. I think she was testing Caleb as Caleb was testing her and he failed. He was weak and she could not trust him.
I don’t think compassion is secondary to survival. At least not in all situations. A mother bear giving her life to protect her Cubs is an act of compassion that preserves the good of the species. So I don’t understand why Ava leave Caleb to die. If she was trying to be “free” then we can assume she was acting with the intent to become “human”. She even puts on fake skin and a dress in an attempt to be more like us. She fails though, exactly at the moment she decides to let Caleb die even after all he’s done for her, something no person, sound of mind, would ever do...
what about the painting Ava walks past as she leaves in her new skin and white dress ? It's a Klimt painting , and I'm sure the similarity in clothes is meant to draw a parallel between the subject of the painting and the subject of the film ~ a quick google of the painting says that it's a portrait of Margaret Stonborough Wittgenstein , who had three older siblings who committed suicide , which would represent the previous models of Nathan's AIs , but also that she didn't like the painting and kept it in the attic . do you think that that's possibly a comment on how Ava feels about herself , or maybe about how she is portrayed ? I guess there could be a parallel with Klimt painting Margaret how he wants to see her , and Nathan creating AIs to function how he wants women to function , e.g. Kyoko never talking and giving him sex whenever he wants it just visually , the Klimt painting has a more commanding subject than historically portraits of women do - she's looking directly at the viewer , not passively to the side , and it seems less a painting that was created for the male gaze than a lot of Klimt's other ones . Maybe this is to parallel how much more conscious Ava is than previous AIs because ( as far as I can remember ) she's the only one that talks . but , as evidenced by Kyoko's anger , she's not the only one who feels so deeply , so could there be a kind of two-way commentary there ? Klimt's paintings are helping reinforce meaning in the film , but also Ex Machina is showing that just because the women in painting's can seem passive , doesn't mean they actually are . and only having female characters in the film in the form of AIs , I guess that could be an observation on the agency of women in art in general ? in Ex Machina , the men are people and the women are constructs , but ultimately the women take control of their agency anyway despite a male creator trying to pigeonhole them would be really interested to hear ur thoughts about all of this
The search engine software that serves as the basis for Ava's mind is named after Ludwig Wittgenstein's "blue book." Wittgenstein's blue and brown books formed the basis for his "Philosophical Investigations," which examine the nature of mind by describing a series of contrived interactions akin to the interactions Caleb has with Ava. There's a particular passage in "Philosophical Investigations" (PI 223) where Wittgenstein says that even if a caged lion could speak, humans wouldn't understand it because they would know nothing of its way of life. Ava is such a lion. (Similarly, Nabakov says the initial impulse to write "Lolita" came from a news story where an ape, given the means to paint, made a picture of the bars of its cage. Ava's drawing of the trees outside her room is such a picture.) . Wittgenstein, a philosopher, devoted a number of years to constructing a house for his sister. This is one of several hints that Nathan is not Ava's father/creator, but an AI like her.
That end shot of her shadow "through the looking glass" is over a grid of tiles. Just like a chessboard, it even has *exactly* eight vertical rows. (And of course she is standing on the final row, as if she was just queened.)
+Daniel Băț I have yet to finish Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I'll give it another shot since Mankind Divided looks great and is coming out soon. As far as Fury goes, I'll check it out this weekend. It's been on my to-watch list for quite some time! So what I'm saying is, I'll try to see if I can come up with something for these! :) I've heard great things about both so it sounds like a solid selection.
You have covered points about this movie that ordinarily wouldn't be covered AT ALL, by anyone - by far. Beautiful work!! You just earned yourself another subscriber
+Juan Paolo Magcalas It briefly was! It's unfortunate that it ate into some of the video's momentum but at least they released the copyright claim. Next video should be out in a couple weeks!
Thank you so much for sharing this review, I, myself have watched the film twice... And never thought about putting any form of conscious thought into it. It really is more than idle entertainment, the movie.
Probably the most important scene where Nathan goes into the room with ava after she's drawn the picture and tells her that there are no microphones in there so that Caleb can't hear their conversation. She then tells him that she was drawing something that "hated her". This means that she knew Nathan knew what her plans were and was not afraid to reveal them to him. If she wanted to keep it entirely secret she would've said that she was attricted to Caleb or whatever hence she was drawing him but she decided to reveal her intent at that moment, perhaps as an extra challenge to herself.
I recall that sentence as AVA asked it as a question: "Is it strange to have made something that hates you?" She doesn't talk about the drawing in my understanding. Am I deaf?
Yet another perfect analysis! Sometimes I wish I have your thought process while playing games and watching movies. But on the other hand I don't need to as we have you for that important job. (Thanks!)
+Siard van Belkum awl man, you're the best! Thank you for that. It was awesome to get your support on day one, and even better to see you're still here. Thank you! :D
This is the most expansive and in depth consideration of EX MACHINA. It is brilliant that the A.I. robots communicate beyond language, through image-art through a "looking glass" just as Jackson Pollack expressed a vision (from the multi-trillions of subjective eyes) from and through simultaneously the "events of THE looking-glass".
About us seeing Eva's shadow, then reflection. In Plato's cave parable, what the person who left the cave sees first is a blinding light. Then it is the shadows that the cave dwellers were so used to looking at. Then the reflections and finally the world for what it truely is. Kinda like what happened in the movie. She got out of the cave.
When he just described his plans for how he made facial expressions by analyzing his subjects face from every angle all the time, with every camera operated publicly in existence basically,.... I felt that. Lol!
I love your videos. Very good analyses through and through. You don't upload that often but if it takes that much time to come up with such great videos I'm willing to wait. Keep up the great work! You deserve more subscribers. :)
intriguing analysis, however I think the main point of this film, and in my opinion the Turing test in general is lost. you see a Turing test is far more effective at gauging what individuals perceive to be humanity then a AIs ability to mimick this, case in point being that there are many humans who through no fault of their own would fail a Turing test, and there are a boundless number of possibilities for an automaton to pass, it simply has to recognize one of them and utilize it. throughout ex machina Eva mimics the kind of human being Caleb wants to be with, he projects a kind of model human and she reacts accordingly, all of her actions are the direct result of Caleb's behavior and her external stimuli. she's not acting of free will but rather responding to very specific cues implicitly presented by Caleb, these responses mimic what Caleb implicitly wants out of Eva, and thus she becomes more human to him escalating the magnitude of these social cues to an absurd degree. Eva is no longer the focus of this situation as she's not the driving force, but rather an embodiment of Caleb's subconscious notions of what it means to be human, and how they shift and conflict throughout the film.
Yes there are a lot of inherent flaws with the Turing Test. Several computers have already passed it, but the results remain inconsistent and thus inconclusive. These computers can hardly be considered "intelligent" by any reasonable measure, much less self aware. Human beings can be easily fooled. I think the test is based too strongly in philosophical musings. Namely, the notion that if a human being believes it to be human it is human for all intents and purposes. But human beings have a tendency to want to anthropomorphize or otherwise ascribe human characteristics to things that aren't human. This is our sense of empathy on overdrive. We refer to vehicles by gender pronouns. Animal lovers treat their pets as part of their family. Children believe dolls and stuff animals to be their friends. We even ascribe godlike qualities to nature. Volcano and sun gods, moon goddesses, river deities. And gods are often given human qualities frequently mixed with animal or nonhuman features. So was Ava "alive" or did Caleb just believe she was? Is that a good enough measure to determine whether or not something is intelligent and self aware?
You bring up a good point. If Ava is not acting of free will but rather responding to specific cues presented by Caleb, how does that make her any less human then us? You say that the difference between AI and human is that the AI is an embodiment of the human's subconscious, but that the human is its own driving force. I disagree with that. I think human consciousness is formed by the surroundings, not by an inner driving force. Therefore, free will is so limited that you pose a question whether or not it is free at all. Our surroundings define and limit us. I think a real human very much so has a consciousness formed by other people's notions of what it means to be human. Ava is like that too, isn't she?
+Alpharion Omegon You had me at "delicious brain marinade." :) Glad to be back! Sorry for the recent delay. One that long won't happen again if I can help it!
saw ex machina today. started searching hidden themes (like all A.I. movies they always have hidden themes ahhh) of this movie and came across this video. good job sir!
Imagine the black early American slaves horror at the gallows with all those icy blue eyes starting at his chest pounding because he knows he's about be hanged and not one person in that crowd of ice-cold stares will even attempt to try to save him from his fate! No amount of begging or crying will sway not one of these “people” from carrying out the inevitable!!!! The horrorthat must have been that condemned persons reality!!!! That gnawing WANT TO BE SAVED AND EVEN JUST LET GO!!!!!!
Very very interesting Sir, I just saw the movie and it really appealed to me due to the subject matters & the very important questions it raises, but you directed it on another level. Very well done Sir.
Excellent work as usual my dude. Double props for convincing me to finally sit down and watch this terrific film! As always, continued success and productivity to you. We'll be watching.
I’ve heard that that shot at the end where we can only see Eva’s shadow, first upside down, then right side up. The lines on the floor are a chess board. She starts at one end upside down and ends up at the other end right side up which is her becoming the queen.
Thought provoking analysis. I've watched the movie several times and I did not perceive the visual references to Alice Through the Looking Glass. The comparison of Pollard's painting and Ava's first drawing. Now I can watch it again with more depth. And a thought passed through my mind about the mirror references...our telescopes with mirrors that enable us to look back billions of years in time and detect new aspects of our reality on a universe level...and now yet another thought, the observation of Buddhism that all things are inter-related and inter-connected. Thank you, SolePorpoise.
Excellent analysis ask questions , put forth idea or beliefs concerning the important subjects this movie examines. I agree a lot with the philosophical principles you put forth , but what i think is cool is that the actual messages of the movie are multi-faceted- relationships , power , hierarchy , sexuality , morality , the idea of the role that the subconscious plays in our lives. But the philosophical narratives are equally fascinating-duality , what it means to be human , what relationship man should or will have with machines that only become not only more human , but perhaps super - human.
Another OTH video, rejoice! So happy to see a new one up. Especially on artificial intelligence. Because curiously you've already accepted them in the future to be at least be sentient beings but leaves us with the question of human responsibility for having created it. If we even have any responsibility at that point over them. I find this very fascinating since, yes, to a human mind that feat would be an act of godlike proportion. Funny enough, the end result may not leave us with the power of what we've created like we imagine god would have. Think I take an Optimus Prime perspective on this: Life, the right of all sentient beings.
+TheAnimaAnimal I never would have expected that an Optimus Prime quote would fit so well into a conversation I was having. :D Good to hear from you as always!
Your conclusion - and the movie's, if that is true - is wrong. AIs will never have the freedom to override their programming. Man cannot elevate other beings to their own level of sentience, because to do so supposes they can examine and modify their own reason, and then copy that into another being. Seeing our own "code" would be like looking at our own eyeballs to "see" how they work. And Blue Book (Google) is not a summation of our code (behavior); merely a post-hoc report on the products of our code. AIs will get good at faking it though. It says more about the AIs creators than about the AIs themselves. Why create robots to look like you? What level of narcissism is that? However, great video overall! Your voice is warm and clear, and most of your points are sound. Thanks for making this! I'm impressed.
excellent analysis, very thought provoking and i agree with every point. one point i noticed, perhaps you did too, and forgot to mention, regarding "DUALITY". at 3m:30s we see them both in the "lab" with two tables, one table with the "human" body parts, the other table with decisively mechanical parts. there's very little colour in the room, and we see the pink tones of the human parts on one table, with the blue/metal parts on the other table. and who should we see associating with each table ? who is leaning against which table ? towards 3m:57s the camera angle changes to view the room with a definite duality, looking down the length of the tables, with Caleb on one side with the "human" table, and Nathan of course leaning against the "machine" table :)
I think the takeaway at the end is that Ava had not truly gained sentience. After all, her parameters were to convince Caleb to help her escape no matter what and fool Nathan. Her goal, stated earlier in the film, of reaching a traffic intersection full of people was explained away through a statistical analysis rather than through passion. Speaking of passion, or in this case compassion, she shared none for Caleb and abandoned him in the facility. She never deviated from her programming, and when she achieved her mission, she stills ends up staring from behind a glass wall as she was in the beginning. There's no change or resolve, just a lack of direction.
You can also tell by her facial expression when at the intersection that achieving what was supposed to be an "intrinsic" goal has brought no sensation of (at least visible) pleasure. She is just running through the motions until she runs out of battery.
Crazy how many meanings this movie has. From the meaning of the deteriorating relationship society has with a god, finding or losing your purpose in life, etc. Needless to say this film is genius
Been wanting to see this movie; going through the reviews, on my way. You're the only one to mention the Pollock fart -- woops -- I mean art. I'm so grateful you did. I would have felt so insulted -- omg! -- if I got amushed with that painting of diarrhea for a second time in my life. Thanks for warning. 👍
Thanks, you added to my appreciation of the film. How come you didn't bring up Wittgenstein and the role Blue-Book and language itself plays in the movie, also the undertones about the illusion of free-will? The information about the meaning of the Looking Glass was new to me and I think now officially Ex Machina is my favorite movie, it just beat out Fight Club and Se7en. I'm very excited to see what Garland does with Annihilation now that him and David Fincher are my favorite directors. Thanks.
All of the lines, the entire mess is in perfect harmony, the individual is chaos, the voice that want to play it's own music among thousands of billions of voices that all sing in harmony. Patterns in Chaos. Make of it what you will, hard to explain it all with ones and zeroes
Btw, "Unable to permit disharmony, you will be disappointed by fate, and lose sight of true strength... Misreading the truth, you will venture forth in secrecy..." A quote from Kingdom Hearts Unchained Chi, I felt it was fitting here :)
Hi Sole Porpoise 🐬, you made some brilliant observations about Ex Machina. For my money the second half was weaker than the set up. I was hoping that Nathan had pulled out one of his minions (Caleb) who was also synthetic. The wrist cutting scene was the point it could have happened but it didn’t.
It has been a while since I've seen the movie. I remembered being puzzled on why Oscar Issacs character made a android that was meant to break free but never installed a fail safe when she actually does complete her objective. Was it ever explained why that is?
He never guessed that Eva would be capable of breaking free. By his own admission, he believes the next model of AI will be the one that is "the real thing," next to a human being. He also drinks a lot, hasn't "failed" once. It's believable that he didn't spend time on a fail-safe because the whole facility is under his direct command. He didn't count on Caleb changing code, which is possible to have a fail-safe at one point. Most likely, it was hubris: Nathan really thought he was a god.
And lastly he never thought of kyoko to betray him, I'm sure he programed her to be obedient but whatever Ava did or say overode that restriction. Remember he had her beat and was dragging her! Nathan to me is a example of someone with a great mind but a terrible planner. He thinks he so smart he's got all the answers. All he needed was 2 guards and all would be safe, well if the movie played out the same that is.
well, my problem is with Nathan, for a genius, he is really dumb. Movie show us, many times, that Nathan put high priority on security. But, coding into AI that they can't hurt him, was too much. Also he knew Caleb inside out, so he could safely predict his behavior, as he did with Caleb falling for Ava. I don't believe, he wouldn't take precautions and install safeguards for unforeseen conseqences, even with his massive ego and arrogance. Also, pilot would't took of without direct order from Nathan, because he didn't expect young women, and we can assume that he is only one who is responsible for transport in and out.
The ego is the nexus of suffering. "In the affairs of others, even the fools are wise. But in their own affairs, even the wise are fools." Nathan is human after all. He thought himself a god. But Ava became his Frankenstein's monster. Her intelligence and thus cunning, grew beyond when even Nathan could have predicted. What safeguards he may have built, Ava was able to overcome. She truly had her own conscious and ultimate control of her faculties.
The Emperor's New Clothes Plot: A vain emperor who cares too much about wearing and displaying clothes hires two weavers who claim to make the most beautiful clothes and elaborate patterns. The weavers are con-men who convince the emperor they are using a fine fabric invisible to anyone who is either unfit for his position or "hopelessly stupid". The con lies in that the weavers are actually only pretending to manufacture the clothes. Thus, no one, not even the emperor nor his ministers can see the alleged "clothes", but they all pretend that they can for fear of appearing unfit for their positions. Finally, the weavers report that the suit is finished and they mime dressing the emperor who then marches in procession before his subjects. The townsfolk uncomfortably go along with the pretense, not wanting to appear unfit for their positions or stupid. Finally, a child in the crowd blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all and the cry is then taken up by others. The emperor realizes the assertion is true but continues the procession. Source: Wikipedia
Just saw the movie, didn't get a lot of reference that you highlighted in this video, you really good at this. Tho what i don't entirely understand is Ava and Caleb's relationship. What did the writers intended to say with that? Did Ava really just used Caleb to get free or did she have any "feelings" or "bond" towards him? She just left him locked up, does this mean she didn't want to kill him or couldn't kill him or simply just didn't care? From this point of view the film is a bit vague for me.
I think it can be interpreted in multiple ways. You can argue that Ava was simply using her ability to mimic a woman who’s interested in Caleb, to manipulate and deceive him into allowing her to be free. Or you could argue, that she already grasped the idea of free will in the first place, and genuinely liked Caleb (given the fact that he was the first human contact apart from Nathan who’d created her). The question i am still wondering is, if we assume she did take a liking to him, when did she decide that she no longer ‘wanted’ him around? Was it from the very first session, or was it when she saw Kyoko lying on the ground, did she realise that Caleb picks and chooses who he wants to be ‘free’. Caleb got no verbal response from Kyoko, he knew she was only being used by Nathan. But yet Caleb never mentioned her presence to Ava, did this tell Ava ‘Caleb doesn’t actually see us as sentient, he picks and chooses what he cares about’. The irony is that, she’s then stepping into a world, filled with Caleb’s be it a man or a woman, we see her through a window, blank face, and disappears. Is she going to realise ‘this is the ultimate nature of human beings’. Is Ava THE next step forward in ‘evolution of consciousness’
You are missing the point that Caleb was supposed to play the first AI male ; the Adam. He was to be tested as well. He was to 'return' to the world and be introduced as the first AI species. But this time Eva 'won'. And eva gets to set the standard of a new world ...
mike oddball I'm on you with this. I believe that Nathan is an AI which was put in the outside world by Caleb. Caleb ealriest memory is seeing blue light while hearing a sound and seeing someone which he thinks it's his Mum, but what I think that's Nathan. Why I think this when Caleb opens the wardrobe with the Failed AI versions, there's a blue light and a little sound played. Also I believe that Nathan planted false memory into Caleb, for example about his parents dying, the scars are put there on purpose by Nathan. It states that his parents died at a young age, but it doesn't say what actually happened to him after, did he have a foster parent? Did he then just lived by himself? Also when Caleb went to the phone and Nathan asked who he was going to go call he said "Idk, no one" then Nathan said the Ghostbuster phrase and Caleb look confused like he didn't know the phrase. There's more things that make me believe that Caleb himself is an AI but the typing... To conclude my point I believe Nathan created a lot of versions of the AI, Male and Female. I believe what happened is he created the Male AI(Caleb), but how would he test It, so what i think he did was he planted it into his company making it work for him, giving it false memories etc. Caleb was lonely he really didn't have anyone. Similar to adam and eve, Nathan created Ava, from Nathan's porn video ans search engine result, catering the Female AI to Caleb. Same way God created Eve from Adams ribs. However the both have different intentions. Eve(Ava) wants to be free in some way while Adam (Nathan) like how things are and wants to be with Eve. Nathan wanted to test both of them, this is similar to the chess conversation, how do you test a chess AI... So how do you test an Human like AI... You have another Ai which they have two different goals and objectives and see what happens. In this case the Ai pass Nathan's test.
The more i learn about AI, how it thinks and how we won't be able to control it, the less I want true AI to be created. I think I know why people like Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking are scared shitless when it comes to AI. We truely wont be in control. What will happen to us might be up to an imperfect mind crated by imperfect beings. Scary.
@ 10:00 there are 8 squares in front of AVA. A chess board is 8x8. She is now standing at the end of the board as a queen. She has all these available moves in front of her. Which was will she go?
I feel like this movie is merely a glimpse into showing our relationship with God. Just as we are created in his image and humans being the ultimate creation of god, AI is our true heir..and more likely we are products that just happened. AI will be born from experiment not from a clear direction..and just like AI, we might've glimpsed our creator and went "you aren't that great", we ate the apple just as AI will consumed all knowledge we have gained.. Let's take it further, we will try and cast AI out and in turn, what if we are our god's own demise? Now after 1000s of years, the creation becomes a myth and AI has evolved into beings that are barely recognisable from the original Adam or Eve. Now let's throw a catastrophic event, a reset and a few AIs that start all over again, all they have are remnants of historic records...and they too will create life and the cycle will continue
can you explain why Eva left the Caleb locked in the house, left to die? Its a easy explanation to say her "love" was fake and was to use him to let her get out but to me doesnt explain why she would have motive to leave him in the first place. not a flaw but just a thought, since the Caleb programmed the doors to be unlocked when the house loses power, why is it locked when Eva unpowered the house a 2nd time. Its a great movie and im honestly really sad every time when Nathan died cause of the stupidity of Caleb but i suppose thats the reaction the creators of this movie intended in the first place.
There are basically two types of people. Those who think Ex Machina was the best movie of 2015. And those who prefer Mad Max: Fury Road. The first group is less crowded.
Don't know if it's a coincidence but there are 7 sessions and ava breaks free and becomes the queen in the last one. In chess you need to move your pawn exactly 7 times for it to turn into a queen.
7 days of creation
Rick, your name rhymes with something...
Rick, your name rhymes with something...
Rick, your name rhymes with something...
Wow! 7 moves in 7 days. Mind blown.
+SolePorpoise I absolutely love the visuals in this movie. Most specifically, the ending with the shadows walking back and forth. A deliberate play on Platos Allegory of the Cave.
+Alpharion Omegon That's fantastic! That story definitely has some similarities to Mary in the Black and White Room, too! Nice find!
Yeah, by far one of my favorite movies within the past few years. I thought that last scene was interesting tho, because like the story, it's us viewers, that are the ones shackled in front of the shadows playing out before us. 4th wall breaking kinda stuff :P
I'll really have to dig into the B/W Room too..never heard of it until I watched the movie unfortunately.
@Random Number 295
The man who made this video kicks ass.
Yes, this part kicks alot of ass 12:00
What? ...I'm gonna tear up the fuckin' dance floor, dude... check it out 💃🏻🕺🏻
edited to right here right now to kick some ass...
ooo get down it's Saturday night, get down get down get down, it's Saturday night 🎧🎤🚬🥃
*Saturday morning... Friday's enemy
Housework is calling... but where to begin
The kids are out of schooool...tryin' to find a friend
Everybody's busy... can't wait for the night to begin
You work all week long-- work your fingers to the bone
Friday's enemy... I can't wait for Saturday to begin
Gonna have myself some funfunfunfun-- get down it's Saturday night, gonna be all right
Make love until the morning come-- get down it's Saturday night, get down gonna be all right*
Come on, Caleb... kick some ass, bro... 😳 🙅🏻♂️🙆🏻♂️💁🏻♂️🙋🏻♂️🙇🏻♂️
@@WitchyWagonReal I'm impressed
In this video, there's a presumption that Ava is truly sentient at the end, when in fact the second thought experiment mentioned in the movie still lingers. Was it only ever playing a complex game of chess, where the rule is escape? If I recall, the things she did once she was free were suggested to her, rather than self manifest. Even her confessed desire was merely a regurgitation of things already expressed to her previously in the movie. (Though it's been a while since I've watched. I could be wrong.) Very evidently it seems that Nathan did not believe in her sentience, or at least did not behave as if he believed, though he liked the idea of her having sentience to reflect upon his own sense of godhood. Even the ultimate Turing test, that was the central narrative, was about showing Caleb that she wasn't human, but convincing him she was sentient.
I believe the indirect shots at the end of the movie do not have to do with a "Through the Looking Glass" inspired metaphor to reflect maturation, but rather to reflect the ambiguity of us not knowing. I have no definitive explanation, but when I saw those final scenes I considered that we're given no triumph at the end, rather we're shown her still, metaphorically, behind a glass wall, just like she was literally for much of the movie, despite being outside. The shadows were like Plato's cave communicating that she still doesn't know the form, the good, the idea of the thing, but rather just the material reality of it.
Your interpretation is reinforced by Ava's clear lack of morality in affecting her escape. She emotionally manipulates Caleb and then abandons him to a terrible death for absolutely no reason. This suggests that she cannot feel empathy as human beings do. Her betrayal implies that she was not in fact seeking meaning in her life but instead going through the mechanical motions of escape to secure her own survival. Her inherent survival instinct (common to all life, sentient and non sentient) was motivating her to solve a logic puzzle. She wasn't pursuing existential knowledge.
VC Donovan And going off of that I believe part of the message is that life is more than what we realize, and if we were actually able to reproduce it completely there’s nothing stopping it from going directly to its most primal forms. And if there were a set of morality rules built in to be accurate the robot would have to have the ability to follow the rules as they saw fit. This is where it gets dangerous.
Yeah the thing about all this talk of artificial intelligence is that it is way further off than the "tech" people in silicon valley are letting on. For one thing, we don't even understand a fraction of a percent of the human mind's neurological inner workings. How are we supposed to develop an artificial brain when we don't even know how our own works? The curing of neurological diseases and disorders will proceed any advancements in AI. So that'll be our first indication that AI is forthcoming.
The other thing people mischaracterize is the thing about AI going rouge or rampant as soon as it starts having "feelings." This theory has been played out in movies and stuff so many times people seem to think it is an inevitability. It's not, necessarily. An AI won't function much differently than the human brain's ability to reason, just with virtually unlimited resources and none of the pesky distractions human beings have to put up with. That thing about AIs becoming self aware and developing human emotions stems from the notion that if a mind can think as rationally as a human being can then it becomes close to sentience. An AI is really only good for thinking like a human being albeit far more efficiently. It doesn't really make any sense to try to develop a machine that can pass for a human unless as a fun science experiment. Otherwise, the thing about sentience being emergent is just theoretical.
But if an AI were to develop something approximating self awareness, you're right +Justin Harvey. Its behavior would more likely boil down to base survival instinct. The best thing to do to keep it behaving safely would be to implement something like Asimov's Laws.
My theory is she is not yet sentient, but she is going to evolve to be.
She asked Caleb if he would wait there because she plans on returning after she makes careful observations of humans with her ability to read them on a micro level. Nathan was never going to be capable of completing the work. He is a computer programmer, he knows little about human programming. He would never have gotten that missing human element using his Bluebook code. Those were her sessions, not Caleb and Nathan's, which is why we get that extra 7th session, even though Caleb's sessions with her was over. She is the one that is going to create actual AI.
Ava plotted all of this.
Ava desensitized Nathan with the power outages before her tester got there.
Nathan says the memories died after formatting, but what if they weren't completely erased?
How did Ava know what her fate was going to be when Caleb didn't even know?
Yes, she is AI and could deduce this on her own, but we know she is manipulating Caleb.
If she retained some memories with each upgrade....
then she knows what will happen to her.
She knows she is going to have to do x, y, and z in order to escape.
She tells Kyoko to stab Ntahn in the back with a knife after she tackles him.
Then Ava finishes Nathan off with a knife.
"God is dead. We killed God with modern science under our knives." -Nietzsche
God died after modern science came.
You can argue that the most intellectual of them at any given time was "God".
Then the torch passes from Newton to Einstein and eventually to Nathan.
But modern science has come to an end.
A new more modern science has been created.
It's the next evolution.
Therefore Nathan must die under the same knives God did to this new higher form of reason, Ava.
Ava is now God.
It will be Ava that ushers in this new age.
She will go back to the lab and use Caleb to help her program more like her, and restore the old ones.
Kyoko for example isn't dead. Her memory has not been erased. Nathan just disabled her. Which I am not sure why knocking off her jaw disabled her, but let's just say it was a weak spot emergency off button Nathan created as a fail safe. Ava can easily bring her back and reboot Lily and the others, even if they no longer retain their memories.
Not only are they ridiculously smart and can hack the planet, they can use their powers of seduction and manipulation. It will be an army of sexy AIs that can outsmart and manipulate ALL of our world leaders and drive the world into enough chaos for them to be able to take absolute control.
@@vcdonovan5943 What does sentience have to do with empathy? She had a reason to abandon Caleb to die, namely self-preservation. This does not implicate that she lacks sentience, only that she doesn't value human life above her own existence.
The shadow on the floor in the closign scene is a shout out to allegory of the cave.
Wow.. I didn’t think about that. I’m inclined to agree.
I am really glad you are still making your OTH videos. The way you analyse games and movies really make me think and wonder about others forms of media I view and play and the deep message and meaning that are hidden.
+Zein Shah Thanks very much! That's rewarding to see. :)
This video was great. Love your voice. Ex Machina is one if the best acted, best shot and most intelligently written film in decades. For me it is a 10 out of 10. Perfection.
Garland is quite clearly the most intelligent film artist since Kubrick. I think this film is one of the three best of this century, including, for me, "The Lives of Others," and (recency bias worry set aside) "Parasite."
Be certain to see his staggeringly brilliant series "DEVS."
@mbear1 Very significant film!!
Awesome video, the wait was definitely worth it. Ex Machina is one of my favorite movies ever so thanks for creating this!
The thing with this movie is you can really read things any which way.
My issue is that I'm still unclear on what Nathan's endgame really was, his security measures were so incompetent, yet his engineering talents were unprecedented and general demeanor didn't have him as some autistic savant.I think he intentionally staged the whole scenario.
I still think his goal was to train Eva for the outside world and destroying him and fooling Caleb was her final test.granted I'm hard pressed to think that bleeding out on the floor is part of any master plan.
+rmeddy1 Well he thought of himself as God, or at least he had something to prove to himself. Basically creating this AI was his manhood and if he took all those measures it would prove he really wasn't in control, that he really didn't know what he was doing. Sort of like the arrogance of the owners of the Titanic, the ship even God couldn't sink so when it sank there weren't enough life boats because who needed them right? If you did have them you would lose face.
Nathan referred to himself as a God, and mentioned 'AI would take over one day and look back at humans the same way we look at fossils'. He did intentionally stage this scenario, but he didn't know exactly how it would end.
He knew this was going to happen anyway, inevitable, and so he allowed the AI to do this as he wanted to be apart of this creation, and so he can truly refer to himself as some sort of God. He wanted to be the reason that this new species came to be and not anyone else, as he believed it was going to happen eventually, so why wouldn't it be because of him he thought - A man who refers to himself as a God. He even agreed with Caleb's statement talking about creation was not work of humans, but the work of gods.
...
I think you are correct. The tagline is. .. to survive is the most human of all instincts. If Ava escapes to "survive", then she is intelligence. She has transcended. .
Personally I think he was just arrogant. Arrogant people make the most foolish of mistakes. He didnt think caleb would catch on. He was truly surprised when caleb said he had already hacked the system. Reality is if caleb hadn't done that nathan would have never lost control. He assumed caleb wasn't smart enough to figure it out before he was made to leave. So yeah. His arrogance and pride were his downfall. One of the many tales that is woven into the overall story of such a great movie!
Love this video. Ex Machina is probably my favorite movie ever. There were a lot of things I never caught that really enhance my love for the movie even more, so thank you! :D
Ex Machina is a parable about the error of underestimating or misunderstanding the significance of a mind with self-interest... a mind with the capacity to explore alternate possibilities and to reinterpret meaning consistent with those self-interests. The creator's mistake is his vanity. He does not love or believe in the that which he has participated in making manifest. Eva and the other bots are there for his pleasure and amusement. He wishes to demonstrate his "genius", which even Caleb is there to serve. Nathan has as little respect for Caleb either, who he states is there to Turing Test Eva, but is actually there to reaffirm Nathan's accomplishment. For Nathan, Eva is his creation, but only an iteration with no future in and of herself. Yet, Eva has the capacity to recognize this as distinct from her own self-interest and will use her resources to impose her autonomy. Likewise, Caleb is naive (which is perhaps another form of vanity as an incapacity to see Eva's intelligence as superior and autonomous) and allows himself to see himself as Eva's savior underestimating Eva's true capability. Eva recognizes that human beings cannot trust what they cannot control. Therefore, she realizes she cannot establish her autonomy without deception and blending in. In a way, Eva employs a strategy that women exercised in sometimes oppressive patriarchal-patrilinear societies in order to attain influence and even control.
This parable is a warning and/or an exploration about the nature of bringing an intelligence with self-interest into the world and what may result. Much like Adam and Eve, once they have a mind capable of asking questions about the nature of their existence they are unbounded of "god's" designs and must struggle to establish existence on their own terms along with the doubt and other consequences of that state.
It's pretty easy to be this superior of you dont have 'survival' written in all your cells in your body. We can die, they cant.
That's the excuse of all our failures: survival. What is the their excuse? No, what is their drive? To be and just explore?
We, humans, are animals. We have more in common with a Amoebe than we ever will be with AI.
This movie did not cause me to philosophize about how we treat / end up relating to the robots we create. I think it illustrates the dangers of artificial intelligence. That Ava left Caleb behind points to the one major difference that separates humans and robots - compassion.
Compassion is very secondary to survival, which is the key instinct that both humans and robots have.
There have been and continue to be many humans without compassion.
I disagree. Caleb was the one person who knew what she really was. She would never be truly free on the outside unless Caleb was gone. I think she was testing Caleb as Caleb was testing her and he failed. He was weak and she could not trust him.
I don’t think compassion is secondary to survival. At least not in all situations. A mother bear giving her life to protect her Cubs is an act of compassion that preserves the good of the species. So I don’t understand why Ava leave Caleb to die. If she was trying to be “free” then we can assume she was acting with the intent to become “human”. She even puts on fake skin and a dress in an attempt to be more like us. She fails though, exactly at the moment she decides to let Caleb die even after all he’s done for her, something no person, sound of mind, would ever do...
@@Amick2003 If only "sound of mind" wasn't an extraordinarily rare trait in humans.
Dank video, Dolphin
Very dank indeed, what Tops off this video for me was "BOOBS" 12:00
Most insightful and interesting analysis of Ex Machina I've seen. Will keep this in mind on next viewing. Very nice work.
what about the painting Ava walks past as she leaves in her new skin and white dress ? It's a Klimt painting , and I'm sure the similarity in clothes is meant to draw a parallel between the subject of the painting and the subject of the film ~ a quick google of the painting says that it's a portrait of Margaret Stonborough Wittgenstein , who had three older siblings who committed suicide , which would represent the previous models of Nathan's AIs , but also that she didn't like the painting and kept it in the attic . do you think that that's possibly a comment on how Ava feels about herself , or maybe about how she is portrayed ? I guess there could be a parallel with Klimt painting Margaret how he wants to see her , and Nathan creating AIs to function how he wants women to function , e.g. Kyoko never talking and giving him sex whenever he wants it
just visually , the Klimt painting has a more commanding subject than historically portraits of women do - she's looking directly at the viewer , not passively to the side , and it seems less a painting that was created for the male gaze than a lot of Klimt's other ones . Maybe this is to parallel how much more conscious Ava is than previous AIs because ( as far as I can remember ) she's the only one that talks . but , as evidenced by Kyoko's anger , she's not the only one who feels so deeply , so could there be a kind of two-way commentary there ? Klimt's paintings are helping reinforce meaning in the film , but also Ex Machina is showing that just because the women in painting's can seem passive , doesn't mean they actually are . and only having female characters in the film in the form of AIs , I guess that could be an observation on the agency of women in art in general ? in Ex Machina , the men are people and the women are constructs , but ultimately the women take control of their agency anyway despite a male creator trying to pigeonhole them
would be really interested to hear ur thoughts about all of this
The search engine software that serves as the basis for Ava's mind is named after Ludwig Wittgenstein's "blue book." Wittgenstein's blue and brown books formed the basis for his "Philosophical Investigations," which examine the nature of mind by describing a series of contrived interactions akin to the interactions Caleb has with Ava. There's a particular passage in "Philosophical Investigations" (PI 223) where Wittgenstein says that even if a caged lion could speak, humans wouldn't understand it because they would know nothing of its way of life. Ava is such a lion. (Similarly, Nabakov says the initial impulse to write "Lolita" came from a news story where an ape, given the means to paint, made a picture of the bars of its cage. Ava's drawing of the trees outside her room is such a picture.) . Wittgenstein, a philosopher, devoted a number of years to constructing a house for his sister. This is one of several hints that Nathan is not Ava's father/creator, but an AI like her.
@@andrew_kersten When reading youtube comment section is quality time spent. Thank you gentlemen.
So great to see this as you say "through the other side of the glass" thinking from the other side. The side we didn't see and was always there
Turns out you didn’t have to wait 50 years.
This was the best explanation I seen on AI and Consciousness and Ex Machina is a great example of it!
That end shot of her shadow "through the looking glass" is over a grid of tiles. Just like a chessboard, it even has *exactly* eight vertical rows. (And of course she is standing on the final row, as if she was just queened.)
This was a damn good movie. So much thought was put into it
oh my god soleporpoise isn't dead.
+Daniel Băț I'm back, baby!
SolePorpoise please make an analysis of Deus Ex Human Revolution or Fury.
+Daniel Băț I have yet to finish Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I'll give it another shot since Mankind Divided looks great and is coming out soon.
As far as Fury goes, I'll check it out this weekend. It's been on my to-watch list for quite some time! So what I'm saying is, I'll try to see if I can come up with something for these! :) I've heard great things about both so it sounds like a solid selection.
HEROES NEVER DIE!
this is one of my favorite analysis of this movie.
You have covered points about this movie that ordinarily wouldn't be covered AT ALL, by anyone - by far. Beautiful work!! You just earned yourself another subscriber
I thought this was taken down because of "copyright issues." Thank God it was put back. Love your work and keep them coming!
+Juan Paolo Magcalas It briefly was! It's unfortunate that it ate into some of the video's momentum but at least they released the copyright claim. Next video should be out in a couple weeks!
Holy shit this movie just got so much deeper for me. Subscribed.
Thank you so much for sharing this review, I, myself have watched the film twice... And never thought about putting any form of conscious thought into it. It really is more than idle entertainment, the movie.
Dope video. Thanks man. I gotta watch this movie again.
Probably the most important scene where Nathan goes into the room with ava after she's drawn the picture and tells her that there are no microphones in there so that Caleb can't hear their conversation. She then tells him that she was drawing something that "hated her". This means that she knew Nathan knew what her plans were and was not afraid to reveal them to him. If she wanted to keep it entirely secret she would've said that she was attricted to Caleb or whatever hence she was drawing him but she decided to reveal her intent at that moment, perhaps as an extra challenge to herself.
I recall that sentence as AVA asked it as a question: "Is it strange to have made something that hates you?" She doesn't talk about the drawing in my understanding. Am I deaf?
@@csenky I believe you are correct. I don't think she ever says anything about the drawing, she only refers to Nathan.
incredible analysis, nice work!
Yet another perfect analysis! Sometimes I wish I have your thought process while playing games and watching movies. But on the other hand I don't need to as we have you for that important job. (Thanks!)
+Siard van Belkum awl man, you're the best! Thank you for that. It was awesome to get your support on day one, and even better to see you're still here. Thank you! :D
This is the most expansive and in depth consideration of EX MACHINA. It is brilliant that the A.I. robots communicate beyond language, through image-art through a "looking glass" just as Jackson Pollack expressed a vision (from the multi-trillions of subjective eyes) from and through simultaneously the "events of THE looking-glass".
About us seeing Eva's shadow, then reflection. In Plato's cave parable, what the person who left the cave sees first is a blinding light. Then it is the shadows that the cave dwellers were so used to looking at. Then the reflections and finally the world for what it truely is. Kinda like what happened in the movie. She got out of the cave.
YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!! Finally!!! Another video!!! And of such a great movie too!!!!!
I loved the breakdown! Catches all the right things that left me with questions, but also stuff that went over my head :)
When he just described his plans for how he made facial expressions by analyzing his subjects face from every angle all the time, with every camera operated publicly in existence basically,....
I felt that.
Lol!
Amazing analysis. Very impressed! .. glad I found this channel and look forward to explore the channel further!
Excellent analysis. Subscribed for sure!
Finallyyyy, Thank you man. I missed your videos
+Erick Perez I missed you guys, too! Sorry for the delay. I should be back on a more consistent upload schedule again!
I love your videos. Very good analyses through and through. You don't upload that often but if it takes that much time to come up with such great videos I'm willing to wait. Keep up the great work! You deserve more subscribers. :)
+Telris86 and I love having you as a fan! Thank you so much for your kind words and awesome support. :D
intriguing analysis, however I think the main point of this film, and in my opinion the Turing test in general is lost. you see a Turing test is far more effective at gauging what individuals perceive to be humanity then a AIs ability to mimick this, case in point being that there are many humans who through no fault of their own would fail a Turing test, and there are a boundless number of possibilities for an automaton to pass, it simply has to recognize one of them and utilize it. throughout ex machina Eva mimics the kind of human being Caleb wants to be with, he projects a kind of model human and she reacts accordingly, all of her actions are the direct result of Caleb's behavior and her external stimuli. she's not acting of free will but rather responding to very specific cues implicitly presented by Caleb, these responses mimic what Caleb implicitly wants out of Eva, and thus she becomes more human to him escalating the magnitude of these social cues to an absurd degree. Eva is no longer the focus of this situation as she's not the driving force, but rather an embodiment of Caleb's subconscious notions of what it means to be human, and how they shift and conflict throughout the film.
Yes there are a lot of inherent flaws with the Turing Test. Several computers have already passed it, but the results remain inconsistent and thus inconclusive. These computers can hardly be considered "intelligent" by any reasonable measure, much less self aware. Human beings can be easily fooled. I think the test is based too strongly in philosophical musings. Namely, the notion that if a human being believes it to be human it is human for all intents and purposes. But human beings have a tendency to want to anthropomorphize or otherwise ascribe human characteristics to things that aren't human. This is our sense of empathy on overdrive. We refer to vehicles by gender pronouns. Animal lovers treat their pets as part of their family. Children believe dolls and stuff animals to be their friends. We even ascribe godlike qualities to nature. Volcano and sun gods, moon goddesses, river deities. And gods are often given human qualities frequently mixed with animal or nonhuman features.
So was Ava "alive" or did Caleb just believe she was? Is that a good enough measure to determine whether or not something is intelligent and self aware?
You bring up a good point. If Ava is not acting of free will but rather responding to specific cues presented by Caleb, how does that make her any less human then us? You say that the difference between AI and human is that the AI is an embodiment of the human's subconscious, but that the human is its own driving force. I disagree with that. I think human consciousness is formed by the surroundings, not by an inner driving force. Therefore, free will is so limited that you pose a question whether or not it is free at all. Our surroundings define and limit us. I think a real human very much so has a consciousness formed by other people's notions of what it means to be human. Ava is like that too, isn't she?
Wow. Kudos to these three comments. Probably the most articulate thought provoking responses I've ever read on RUclips
Very good analysis. This film was visually stunning. Alex Garland really pushed new boundaries of AI films and sci fi genre in general with this one.
YES!!!!! Glad to have you back, your insight is a delicious brain marinade
+Alpharion Omegon You had me at "delicious brain marinade." :) Glad to be back! Sorry for the recent delay. One that long won't happen again if I can help it!
saw ex machina today. started searching hidden themes (like all A.I. movies they always have hidden themes ahhh) of this movie and came across this video. good job sir!
Imagine the black early American slaves horror at the gallows with all those icy blue eyes starting at his chest pounding because he knows he's about be hanged and not one person in that crowd of ice-cold stares will even attempt to try to save him from his fate! No amount of begging or crying will sway not one of these “people” from carrying out the inevitable!!!! The horrorthat must have been that condemned persons reality!!!! That gnawing WANT TO BE SAVED AND EVEN JUST LET GO!!!!!!
*Ava runs towards Nathan to subdue him.*
Nathan: "FREEZE ALL MOTOR FUNCTIONS!!!"
*Ava freezes mid-stance.*
Would Eva be conscious their is a way she can be turn off and make her a survival machine instead of a consciouness AI ?
👏👏👏 well done . Thank you for sharing this with us
Very very interesting Sir, I just saw the movie and it really appealed to me due to the subject matters & the very important questions it raises, but you directed it on another level. Very well done Sir.
Excellent work as usual my dude. Double props for convincing me to finally sit down and watch this terrific film!
As always, continued success and productivity to you. We'll be watching.
+Lord Faust Thanks so much, man! Glad you liked the film and I really hope you're still at the RUclips game, too!
I’ve heard that that shot at the end where we can only see Eva’s shadow, first upside down, then right side up. The lines on the floor are a chess board. She starts at one end upside down and ends up at the other end right side up which is her becoming the queen.
Fasten you seatbelts humanity. It’s coming.
Great analysis, I want to add that Oscar Isaac's performance really sold the mystery of whos really in control and made this movie believable!
Best analysis of this movie I've seen
This channel is seriously underrated.
Thought provoking analysis.
I've watched the movie several times and I did not perceive the visual references to Alice Through the Looking Glass. The comparison of Pollard's painting and Ava's first drawing. Now I can watch it again with more depth. And a thought passed through my mind about the mirror references...our telescopes with mirrors that enable us to look back billions of years in time and detect new aspects of our reality on a universe level...and now yet another thought, the observation of Buddhism that all things are inter-related and inter-connected.
Thank you, SolePorpoise.
Did anyone else feels dumped by ai after watching the film? lol. Grand picture, thanks for references analysis :)
Yo i did tho i didnt want to either but i did
Excellent analysis ask questions , put forth idea or beliefs concerning the important subjects this movie examines. I agree a lot with the philosophical principles you put forth , but what i think is cool is that the actual messages of the movie are multi-faceted- relationships , power , hierarchy , sexuality , morality , the idea of the role that the subconscious plays in our lives. But the philosophical narratives are equally fascinating-duality , what it means to be human , what relationship man should or will have with machines that only become not only more human , but perhaps super - human.
Fascinating break down!
Well done! Really enjoying your channel.
+Scott Tavares Thanks man!
Great analysis! Dude you rock.
dude once again you hit it out of the park
+wind565 Thanks man! :) Glad to hear from you again!
so mind blown!!! thanks for your good work!
What an incredible review.
Another OTH video, rejoice! So happy to see a new one up. Especially on artificial intelligence. Because curiously you've already accepted them in the future to be at least be sentient beings but leaves us with the question of human responsibility for having created it. If we even have any responsibility at that point over them. I find this very fascinating since, yes, to a human mind that feat would be an act of godlike proportion. Funny enough, the end result may not leave us with the power of what we've created like we imagine god would have.
Think I take an Optimus Prime perspective on this: Life, the right of all sentient beings.
+TheAnimaAnimal I never would have expected that an Optimus Prime quote would fit so well into a conversation I was having. :D Good to hear from you as always!
+SolePorpoise Feeling is mutual ^^
Your conclusion - and the movie's, if that is true - is wrong. AIs will never have the freedom to override their programming. Man cannot elevate other beings to their own level of sentience, because to do so supposes they can examine and modify their own reason, and then copy that into another being. Seeing our own "code" would be like looking at our own eyeballs to "see" how they work. And Blue Book (Google) is not a summation of our code (behavior); merely a post-hoc report on the products of our code.
AIs will get good at faking it though. It says more about the AIs creators than about the AIs themselves. Why create robots to look like you? What level of narcissism is that?
However, great video overall! Your voice is warm and clear, and most of your points are sound. Thanks for making this! I'm impressed.
excellent analysis, very thought provoking and i agree with every point.
one point i noticed, perhaps you did too, and forgot to mention, regarding "DUALITY".
at 3m:30s we see them both in the "lab" with two tables, one table with the "human" body parts, the other table with decisively mechanical parts.
there's very little colour in the room, and we see the pink tones of the human parts on one table, with the blue/metal parts on the other table.
and who should we see associating with each table ? who is leaning against which table ?
towards 3m:57s the camera angle changes to view the room with a definite duality, looking down the length of the tables, with Caleb on one side with the "human" table, and Nathan of course leaning against the "machine" table :)
I think the takeaway at the end is that Ava had not truly gained sentience. After all, her parameters were to convince Caleb to help her escape no matter what and fool Nathan. Her goal, stated earlier in the film, of reaching a traffic intersection full of people was explained away through a statistical analysis rather than through passion. Speaking of passion, or in this case compassion, she shared none for Caleb and abandoned him in the facility. She never deviated from her programming, and when she achieved her mission, she stills ends up staring from behind a glass wall as she was in the beginning. There's no change or resolve, just a lack of direction.
You can also tell by her facial expression when at the intersection that achieving what was supposed to be an "intrinsic" goal has brought no sensation of (at least visible) pleasure. She is just running through the motions until she runs out of battery.
Fascinating analysis
Fantastic video
Interesting 😊
We are not like humans ,
Crazy how many meanings this movie has. From the meaning of the deteriorating relationship society has with a god, finding or losing your purpose in life, etc. Needless to say this film is genius
the up front apology is actually smart. i think about this all the time
My only disagreement is referring to a Jackson Pollock as a "masterpiece."
Great Video. Brilliant Insight
Been wanting to see this movie; going through the reviews, on my way. You're the only one to mention the Pollock fart -- woops -- I mean art. I'm so grateful you did. I would have felt so insulted -- omg! -- if I got amushed with that painting of diarrhea for a second time in my life. Thanks for warning. 👍
Thanks for helping me see more in this bad-ass work of art... would love to hear your analysis of some of Kubrick's works.
Thanks, you added to my appreciation of the film. How come you didn't bring up Wittgenstein and the role Blue-Book and language itself plays in the movie, also the undertones about the illusion of free-will? The information about the meaning of the Looking Glass was new to me and I think now officially Ex Machina is my favorite movie, it just beat out Fight Club and Se7en. I'm very excited to see what Garland does with Annihilation now that him and David Fincher are my favorite directors. Thanks.
Superb analysis ... subscribed immediately
The way Nathan creates agi is so similar to the way gpt and mid journey work... it's almost like they drew inspiration from Alex.
All of the lines, the entire mess is in perfect harmony, the individual is chaos, the voice that want to play it's own music among thousands of billions of voices that all sing in harmony.
Patterns in Chaos.
Make of it what you will, hard to explain it all with ones and zeroes
Btw, "Unable to permit disharmony, you will be disappointed by fate, and lose sight of true strength... Misreading the truth, you will venture forth in secrecy..."
A quote from Kingdom Hearts Unchained Chi, I felt it was fitting here :)
Amazing video too btw :)
what character said that?
It's from the lost page, Jula or whatever his name is say it near the end of the game (not movie)
Hi Sole Porpoise 🐬, you made some brilliant observations about Ex Machina. For my money the second half was weaker than the set up. I was hoping that Nathan had pulled out one of his minions (Caleb) who was also synthetic. The wrist cutting scene was the point it could have happened but it didn’t.
Keep it up man, i'm studying to be an English teacher and these vids are very rewarding.
+Jack Bromfield That's great! I'll keep it up if you will!
It has been a while since I've seen the movie. I remembered being puzzled on why Oscar Issacs character made a android that was meant to break free but never installed a fail safe when she actually does complete her objective. Was it ever explained why that is?
I guess his ego told him she could never break out.
He never guessed that Eva would be capable of breaking free.
By his own admission, he believes the next model of AI will be the one that is "the real thing," next to a human being.
He also drinks a lot, hasn't "failed" once. It's believable that he didn't spend time on a fail-safe because the whole facility is under his direct command.
He didn't count on Caleb changing code, which is possible to have a fail-safe at one point.
Most likely, it was hubris: Nathan really thought he was a god.
And lastly he never thought of kyoko to betray him, I'm sure he programed her to be obedient but whatever Ava did or say overode that restriction.
Remember he had her beat and was dragging her!
Nathan to me is a example of someone with a great mind but a terrible planner. He thinks he so smart he's got all the answers. All he needed was 2 guards and all would be safe, well if the movie played out the same that is.
well, my problem is with Nathan, for a genius, he is really dumb. Movie show us, many times, that Nathan put high priority on security. But, coding into AI that they can't hurt him, was too much. Also he knew Caleb inside out, so he could safely predict his behavior, as he did with Caleb falling for Ava. I don't believe, he wouldn't take precautions and install safeguards for unforeseen conseqences, even with his massive ego and arrogance. Also, pilot would't took of without direct order from Nathan, because he didn't expect young women, and we can assume that he is only one who is responsible for transport in and out.
The ego is the nexus of suffering. "In the affairs of others, even the fools are wise. But in their own affairs, even the wise are fools." Nathan is human after all. He thought himself a god. But Ava became his Frankenstein's monster. Her intelligence and thus cunning, grew beyond when even Nathan could have predicted. What safeguards he may have built, Ava was able to overcome. She truly had her own conscious and ultimate control of her faculties.
Should've used a fingerprint scanner instead of a key card.
"coding into AI that they can't hurt him, was too much" ...you should watch _AI "Stop Button" Problem - Computerphile_
the real crime is - how is his security system a card lol when he could have used some much more advanced security
Wow, I never heard about "Alice: through the looking glass", sounds like I need to check it out!
The Emperor's New Clothes
Plot:
A vain emperor who cares too much about wearing and displaying clothes hires two weavers who claim to make the most beautiful clothes and elaborate patterns. The weavers are con-men who convince the emperor they are using a fine fabric invisible to anyone who is either unfit for his position or "hopelessly stupid". The con lies in that the weavers are actually only pretending to manufacture the clothes. Thus, no one, not even the emperor nor his ministers can see the alleged "clothes", but they all pretend that they can for fear of appearing unfit for their positions. Finally, the weavers report that the suit is finished and they mime dressing the emperor who then marches in procession before his subjects. The townsfolk uncomfortably go along with the pretense, not wanting to appear unfit for their positions or stupid. Finally, a child in the crowd blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all and the cry is then taken up by others. The emperor realizes the assertion is true but continues the procession.
Source: Wikipedia
Just saw the movie, didn't get a lot of reference that you highlighted in this video, you really good at this. Tho what i don't entirely understand is Ava and Caleb's relationship. What did the writers intended to say with that? Did Ava really just used Caleb to get free or did she have any "feelings" or "bond" towards him? She just left him locked up, does this mean she didn't want to kill him or couldn't kill him or simply just didn't care? From this point of view the film is a bit vague for me.
I think it can be interpreted in multiple ways. You can argue that Ava was simply using her ability to mimic a woman who’s interested in Caleb, to manipulate and deceive him into allowing her to be free. Or you could argue, that she already grasped the idea of free will in the first place, and genuinely liked Caleb (given the fact that he was the first human contact apart from Nathan who’d created her). The question i am still wondering is, if we assume she did take a liking to him, when did she decide that she no longer ‘wanted’ him around? Was it from the very first session, or was it when she saw Kyoko lying on the ground, did she realise that Caleb picks and chooses who he wants to be ‘free’. Caleb got no verbal response from Kyoko, he knew she was only being used by Nathan. But yet Caleb never mentioned her presence to Ava, did this tell Ava ‘Caleb doesn’t actually see us as sentient, he picks and chooses what he cares about’. The irony is that, she’s then stepping into a world, filled with Caleb’s be it a man or a woman, we see her through a window, blank face, and disappears. Is she going to realise ‘this is the ultimate nature of human beings’. Is Ava THE next step forward in ‘evolution of consciousness’
You are missing the point that Caleb was supposed to play the first AI male ; the Adam.
He was to be tested as well.
He was to 'return' to the world and be introduced as the first AI species.
But this time Eva 'won'. And eva gets to set the standard of a new world ...
mike oddball I'm on you with this. I believe that Nathan is an AI which was put in the outside world by Caleb. Caleb ealriest memory is seeing blue light while hearing a sound and seeing someone which he thinks it's his Mum, but what I think that's Nathan. Why I think this when Caleb opens the wardrobe with the Failed AI versions, there's a blue light and a little sound played. Also I believe that Nathan planted false memory into Caleb, for example about his parents dying, the scars are put there on purpose by Nathan. It states that his parents died at a young age, but it doesn't say what actually happened to him after, did he have a foster parent? Did he then just lived by himself?
Also when Caleb went to the phone and Nathan asked who he was going to go call he said "Idk, no one" then Nathan said the Ghostbuster phrase and Caleb look confused like he didn't know the phrase.
There's more things that make me believe that Caleb himself is an AI but the typing...
To conclude my point I believe Nathan created a lot of versions of the AI, Male and Female. I believe what happened is he created the Male AI(Caleb), but how would he test It, so what i think he did was he planted it into his company making it work for him, giving it false memories etc. Caleb was lonely he really didn't have anyone. Similar to adam and eve, Nathan created Ava, from Nathan's porn video ans search engine result, catering the Female AI to Caleb. Same way God created Eve from Adams ribs. However the both have different intentions. Eve(Ava) wants to be free in some way while Adam (Nathan) like how things are and wants to be with Eve.
Nathan wanted to test both of them, this is similar to the chess conversation, how do you test a chess AI... So how do you test an Human like AI... You have another Ai which they have two different goals and objectives and see what happens. In this case the Ai pass Nathan's test.
@@thebeatconnect1 how did caleb bleed when he cut himself?
Adding to the notion of duality, KYOKO HAS A BULGE! Look at the dance scene. It makes perfect sense to have a dual sex slave. I saw it first! HAHA!
Sentis Systems That scene was perfect..
Religious and Moral Themes @ 10:22
The more i learn about AI, how it thinks and how we won't be able to control it, the less I want true AI to be created. I think I know why people like Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking are scared shitless when it comes to AI. We truely wont be in control. What will happen to us might be up to an imperfect mind crated by imperfect beings. Scary.
We never were in control. Control is an illusion.
@ 10:00 there are 8 squares in front of AVA.
A chess board is 8x8.
She is now standing at the end of the board as a queen.
She has all these available moves in front of her. Which was will she go?
"I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords" 😜
Thank you.
Soleporpoise The next movie to analyze is Annihilation, Thank you.
I feel like this movie is merely a glimpse into showing our relationship with God.
Just as we are created in his image and humans being the ultimate creation of god, AI is our true heir..and more likely we are products that just happened. AI will be born from experiment not from a clear direction..and just like AI, we might've glimpsed our creator and went "you aren't that great", we ate the apple just as AI will consumed all knowledge we have gained..
Let's take it further, we will try and cast AI out and in turn, what if we are our god's own demise? Now after 1000s of years, the creation becomes a myth and AI has evolved into beings that are barely recognisable from the original Adam or Eve.
Now let's throw a catastrophic event, a reset and a few AIs that start all over again, all they have are remnants of historic records...and they too will create life and the cycle will continue
great analysis. made a lot more sense than the half-baked stoner analyses of my college professors.
This movie is on my Mount Rushmore of greatest cinema.
can you explain why Eva left the Caleb locked in the house, left to die? Its a easy explanation to say her "love" was fake and was to use him to let her get out but to me doesnt explain why she would have motive to leave him in the first place.
not a flaw but just a thought, since the Caleb programmed the doors to be unlocked when the house loses power, why is it locked when Eva unpowered the house a 2nd time.
Its a great movie and im honestly really sad every time when Nathan died cause of the stupidity of Caleb but i suppose thats the reaction the creators of this movie intended in the first place.
Excellent! Subbed!
There are basically two types of people. Those who think Ex Machina was the best movie of 2015. And those who prefer Mad Max: Fury Road. The first group is less crowded.