AI is a bad thing, right? AI is going to take our jobs. AI can’t be trusted. AI will eventually destroy humanity. There have been plenty of films on this very subject, but what if AI is more trustworthy than humans? This is what The Creator presents to us in a visually beautiful, yet fast-moving science fiction film.
The Creator
The Creator was co-written and directed by Gareth Edwards of Rogue One. It is an American science fiction film that stars John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney, Ken Watanabe, Sturgill Simpson, Marc Menchaca, and Madeleine Yuna Voyles. Set in the future, 2065, artificial intelligence has become a very useful product. The AI’s can be found working as chefs, doctors, police officers, babysitters, and field workers. The AI (most have human features) call themselves Simulants. Everything is okey dokey until a nuclear bomb wipes out Los Angeles. The bomb kills millions of people, including Joshua’s (John David Washington) family. This bomb also caused Joshua to lose a few limbs, and now he relies on enhanced prosthetics.
Most of the western world is now anti-AI, and in fact, the United States has declared war on all AI robots…specifically targeting the people of New Asia, who not only love their Simulants, but hide them from the low orbit space station that has been attacking villages throughout New Asia. These scenes bring back memories of the Vietnam War, and not in a good way.
While spying on the people of New Asia, Joshua falls in love with Maya (Gemma Chan). She is pregnant with his child, but she is the daughter of the person making AI robots in New Asia. After the low orbit space station attacks the village where Joshua and Maya were living, Joshua goes back to the states, thinking Maya is dead. Five years have passed, and Joshua is assigned to track down and destroy a mysterious weapon that has the power to end war. The only problem is this weapon…is a young child (Madeleine Yuna Voyles.)
Conclusion
We live in a world where surgeons are doing delicate and complex surgery with the help of robotics, and it is saving lives. According to the National Institutes of Health, numerous AI-assisted telemedicine-based platforms have allowed healthcare professionals to virtually assist in complex surgeries.
AI is used in apps like Google Maps and Waze…and if you have ever asked Siri to turn off lights or help with a question…then, baby…you are dealing with AI. In fact, I got to experience AI this week when I went to Children’s Hospital with my grandson to keep him company while his son, my great grandson, got chemo for his stage 4 cancer. On the way home, my grandson, who owns a Tesla, programed the car to drive us home on its own. Way cool!!!!
But there is no AI or nanorobots that we are aware of that can cure my great grandson’s cancer. I even asked the oncologist that very question, “Don’t you have nanorobotics that you can inject into my great grandson’s body that stops his body from producing this cancer?” NO! We aren’t that far advanced. This sucks! We can control robots on Mars, but we can’t or won’t cure cancer.
AI also has a dark side in that it can perpetuate gender, racial, or socioeconomics biases. It can result in the loss of human influence. Maybe using AI in healthcare could result in the lack of empathy.
The Creator was fun to watch because it is a good sci-fi story, and it gave us a kinder outlook on AI… instead of the Terminator… we got Robby the Robot…and even though it was really cool to have the Tesla take control of the drive home…humans have a track record for creating disasters. Watch The Creator on Hulu and let me know what you think.
