Stories about Artificial Intelligence becoming self-aware have always been a matter of great interest ever since Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 was sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor in James Cameron’s Terminator in 1984, just a couple of years after Rutger Hauer’s Ray Batty delivered the iconic ‘Tears in the rain’ monologue in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
Stories about Artificial Intelligence becoming self-aware have always been a matter of great interest ever since Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 was sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor in James Cameron’s Terminator in 1984, just a couple of years after Rutger Hauer’s Ray Batty delivered the iconic ‘Tears in the rain’ monologue in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
The idea of self-aware robots have since evolved into sentient intelligences capable of monitoring and manipulating every aspect of human life. In fact, these debates have become part of contemporary real world moral and ethical dilemmas, after having been explored in films such as AI: Artificial Intelligence and Ex-Machina, and Jonathan Nolan’s HBO TV series Westworld.
For today’s Lost and Found podcast, we take a look at another Jonathan Nolan series, Person of Interest. The story follows a recluse billionaire tech genius, played by Michael Emerson, who recruits an ex-CIA operative, essayed by Jim Caviezel, to be a vigilante and save common citizens of New York from imminent danger. Emerson’s character Harold Finch receives intel from an AI he had secretly created for the government to detect any premeditated acts of crime. But since the government only has resources to act upon threats against national security such as terrorism, all other crimes are categorised as irrelevant. So, Finch takes it upon himself, with the help of his new recruit John Reese, to save potential victims on the irrelevant list created by the machine.
The show’s well-written characters, engrossing storyline, and thought-provoking themes, which delves into controversial topics such state surveillance and privacy, makes it one of the most underrated TV shows of the last decade. As the series progresses, themes relating to the ethical conundrums of how human beings must adapt and reassess how to deal in the event an AI becomes self-aware are also explored.
This binge-worthy series also features an excellent ensemble of supporting characters played by Kevin Chapman, Amy Acker, Taraji P. Henson, and Sarah Shahi.
Well that's the OTTplay Lost and Found for today, until the next time it's your host Nikhil signing out.
Aaj kya dekhoge OTTplay se poocho