Her group 3
Her Film Review
By Kyle Ferguson, Sarika Mahtani, Shane Bloomfield
Her was made in 2013 and was directed and written by Spike Jonze. The film starred Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, and Scarlett Johansson, and lasted 2 hours and 6 minutes.
Her Official Trailer: https://youtu.be/WzV6mXIOVl4
Plot
The film Her is about a man who is a very emotional writer who was left heartbroken from his ex-wife. The main character is named Theodore and he desires to find a new lover who he can make feel as good as he did when he was with his ex-wife. He winds up falling in love with a voice Artificial Intelligence system named Samantha who has a mind of its own. The movie takes place in a futuristic Los Angeles and technology has appeared to be way more advanced and attached to all human beings. The plot of the movie is entering Theodore's life, most importantly his love life, a following the journey of the relationship between Samantha, a non-human A.I. system, and himself, a love lusting emotional man. Will it thrive against all odds or fail miserably. The movie focuses mainly on Theodore and what his future will turn out to be.
Film Techniques
There were many film techniques used by the producer and director of Her so that the film could be more appealing and intriguing to the viewers watching the film.
The cinematic technique of framing is used during the film by taking long shots and close-ups. A long shot is present when Theodore is walking in the snowy forest. You can only see him in the forest and no facial expressions, only his surroundings which is the snowy woods. Most of the close up scenes in this film are when Theodore is in bed trying to sleep or is talking to Samantha in bed at night. The camera always zooms in on his face because in these scenes, the only visible character is Theodore. When he talks to Samantha, the viewers can almost always see his earpiece in the scene to signify where the second voice is coming from and that, she too, is a character and is interacting with the visible one. This technique is effective because it signifies the importance of the earpiece and the relationship Theodore has with technology.
The cinematic technique of sound is used during the film by using non-diegetic and diegetic sound. A diegetic sound is used when Theodore is playing the ukulele in the Cottage because the sound is coming from within the movie and it is a nice setting to shoot in with the couple. A non-diegetic sound is used when Samantha breaks Theodore's heart by telling him that she has more than one lover. It is a gloomy scene therefore sad music is being played in the background. This music is only heard by the viewers and is effective because it helps to give an upsetting feel and mood to the scene.
The cinematic technique of lighting is used during the film by using low-key lighting and side lighting. Low-key lighting is present when Theodore is in his apartment, thinking about what to do next after his OS Samantha shuts down and leaves him. There is almost a complete absence of light and it builds up suspense and disorientation. Theodore fills in our confusion by going to see his recently single girl friend, Amy. This technique is helpful because it sets the right tone that the audience should be feeling for the specific scene. Side lighting is used when Theodore is talking to Samantha near the beginning of the movie about going out on a blind date with a cute Harvard graduate girl. Samantha eventually convinces him to go, which could possibly result in him finding love again. The side lighting is important because it indicates a sneak peak of opportunity for Theodore as this event has not happened yet but is in the future.
The cinematic technique of editing is used during the film by taking short takes and long takes. Short takes are used when Theodore is talking poetically about love at the end of the film. As he writes his letter to his ex-wife about moving on, short scenes are present of him making his way to the roof, then in his apartment, then on the roof with his friend, then again in his apartment, demonstrates his first actions to finally doing so. The camera zooms in on his face, then it pans out and shows him and his friend, or possible new lover, on the roof. The short takes in this scene quickly shows the viewers how he plans to start moving on and being happy again. A long take is used during the scene where Theodore is on a blind date with this lady when they have a special moment together, kissing outside. It lasts a while on the bridge until they have an argument and leave separate ways. The long take is used to display the importance of the intimate moment Theodore just had. He had not had one in a long time, since he had split with his wife, which was something he had longed for.
The cinematic technique of sets, props and costumes was used significantly throughout the film. The colours red and pink were visible in almost every scene that included Theodore. When Theodore is leaving work near the beginning of the film, he is in the elevator, then walks outside, and then proceeds to the subway. Everyone standing in the elevator and the subway, as well as the people walking around him are all wearing bland colours such as grey, white, light blue, and beige; these colours blend in with the gloomy background of buildings, the sky and the subway. In these scenes, Theodore is wearing a cherry red blazer over his red and grey shirt, that would normally blend in with everyone else. This blazer makes Theodore stand out from the crowd to represent his importance to the film as being the main character. Near the end of the film, Theodore is wearing a plain white and black outfit in the room of his apartment where he first met his OS Samantha. Normally, this room is lit up with a red light which signifies Samantha’s presence on the computer. By this point in the film, Samantha had left him, as did all of the other OS’s, and Theodore is walking around this hollow feeling, colourless room and looks out the window. He and his room finally blend in with the mood of the city. Now that she is gone, this absence of colour tells the viewers that there is a sense of loneliness and solitude.![Her-Movie-copy[1]](https://philosophyandpopculture.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/her-movie-copy1.jpg?w=700&h=366)
There are a few universal themes, issues and big questions that are symbolic throughout the film Her. One big question that most people have after viewing this film is if Artificial Intelligence will take over the job of humans. We already know AI can do many things we can and the systems are only getting smarter and better with their programming. Samantha, the AI Theodore falls in love with, was able to establish behaviour and roles that only humans portray, or so we thought. She eventually becomes too evolved that she has to leave him. This raises the question and concern that if they can soon replicate human beings with all of our functions, what will stop them from replacing us?
A reoccurring universal theme that is present throughout the film is loneliness and isolation. The main character Theodore has split up with his wife and is in complete sorrow for the beginning of the movie. He doesn’t seem to be able to connect with anyone the way he once connected with his ex-wife. In his case, he leans towards being alone rather than getting out there and trying to find happiness, and possibly love again. By the end of the movie, after finally finding love and happiness, it later gets ripped away from him and he is again isolated and lonely, in the same place he was at the beginning of the film but with even more heartache.
Another persistent universal theme in Her was connection which displayed on and off connections for the duration of the film. It starts with Theodore being sad and depressed from being broken off from his ex-wife Catherine. He longs for a connection he once had with her. He then downloads the new AI system and meets Samantha. She starts as being his friend and eventually it grows into a relationship. Theodore creates this connection with her that he recognizes being similar to the one he once had with Catherine, which helps him figure out it is love.
1403 words
1403 words
The quality of the film is above average. The film displayed many strengths such as its use of “vibrant colors” and their selection of strong and well-known actors like Chris Pratt, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and Scarlett Johansson that appear in this film. Another notable strength would be the quality camera use and an accurate display of a futuristic Los Angeles. The film's weaknesses would be the uncomfortable scenes being the sexual intercourse between robots and humans, as well as the length (time) of the film. The film took an interesting take on the future relationship between AI technology and humans. Although at some points in the film it can get boring, clingy and unusual, if you enjoy romantic movies or a cool futuristic perspective, it is suggested to watch at least once.
Connections to Course Material
1) The first connection between the film and the course would be the concept of consciousness. Consciousness “is the quality of state of being able to perceive or be aware of an external object or something within oneself” (McKinney, 3). This can be connected to the film with Samantha, the A.I. automating system, who acquires feelings, emotions and a mind of its own. But, it is only real in the digital world.. Samantha gains consciousness because she leaves her owner, Theodore, who she is supposed to serve. Making choices and having feelings is something only someone with a consciousness could make. She wanted to feel pain, joy, be able to smell, and experience everything humans beings can, and she did in her own way. For example, when she was having virtual sex with Theodore, she started to feel her skin as if she was a real person with Theodore. She was self-aware about herself and what she was doing.
2) The second connection between the film and the course would be the concept of ethics. Ethics “is the study of moral value using the methods of philosophy.” (McKinney, 21). Ethics is shown through the film just based on the relationship between Theodore and Samantha, a computer. Is it ethical for a human being to date a computer/machine which doesn’t even have a physical body? A questionable part in the movie is when Samantha was trying to act like another girl to have real human sex with Theodore. Theodore felt uncomfortable because the human being wasn’t really Samantha, it was a random lady he had never met before, impersonating Samantha to have a real and physical moment together. Would God want humans to mate with technology? Will the future come to an end because A.I. is more interesting than humans?
3) The third connection between the film and the course would be the concept of sentience. As a sentient, you are able to perceive, know, believe and have experiences. Some can agree that non-humans can be sentient like Samantha. She wanted to feel pain, emotions and everything a biological being would be able to feel. This would not be correct if the person who created the program had the intention to get into the feelings of men or women and want the program to act like they do. Is it all apart of the programming or did Samantha really take control over the system? Samantha says “I want to feel pain”, meaning she knows what she wants and desires, therefore being sentient.
Provocative Questions
- Can sentient AI eventually acquire personhood?
- Can sentient AI possess a consciousness with time?
- Can sentient AI eventually want to perform in sexual intercourse?
Web-links in Relation to Her
This article is about sex robots, which can be related to AI Samantha. The purpose of these sex robots, that are available to buy, are to fulfill the needs of a human being who lacks and desires pleasure in which they cannot find in their life. In comparison to an AI system like Samantha, she was solely there for Theodore as companionship and eventually turned into a relationship, which he could not find with another human after his break up. Sex robots and AI systems, in terms of this movie, seem to serve the same purpose to us humans.
This article is about AI and it questions its intelligence. Artificial Intelligence is advancing quickly with features like self-driving vehicles and detecting a mood or problem by listening to someone talk. This almost sounds like AI could replace humans if they are able to learn and replicate what we can already do. This relates to the movie Her because Samantha is an Artificial Intelligence system and she develops human characteristics such as feelings, emotions, and learning how to love. By interacting with with a human being, Samantha was able to acquire all of these functions which leads us to believe that with the right technology, could AI eventually replace human beings in terms of interaction and other abilities that we thought only humans could possess?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-future-brain/201901/how-smart-is-artificial-intelligence
Works Cited
Her. 2013. Spike Jonze.Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara and Olivia Wilde. 2 hours and 6 minutes.
Keach, Sean. “You Can Buy a VIRTUAL Sex Robot Right Now for Less than a Tenner.” The Sun, The Sun, 13 Nov. 2018, www.thesun.co.uk/tech/7730548/sex-robot-harmony-ai-app-realbotix/.
McKinney, Kelly. Knowing the Inner Self. John Abbott, 2019.
Rosso, Cami. “How Smart Is Artificial Intelligence?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 11 Jan. 2019, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-future-brain/201901/how-smart-is-artificial-intelligence.
McKinney, Kelly. Knowing the Inner Self. John Abbott, 2019.
Rosso, Cami. “How Smart Is Artificial Intelligence?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 11 Jan. 2019, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-future-brain/201901/how-smart-is-artificial-intelligence.
It is difficult to say if a sentient AI can possess consciousness. A consciousness means you’re aware of your surroundings. To help us look at consciousness, let’s look at a baby. A baby will know that its hungry, and its going to eat something. It’ll try to eat different things. A computer, unless its programmed to do that, will not try something by itself. We as humans have the ability to try different things, a baby when its born will try to fend for itself, and as time passes, it draws on its past experiences. If anything evolves over time, and continuously perfects itself, it may develop a consciousness. Many robots when they were first created were simple, with basic programming, they did menial tasks, and could only respond to specific questions. Many of the answers they gave were based on their programming. Some of the robots seen today in different places can seem to possess personhood, but having personhood also means that they are individuals that have rights. An AI can have control over its mechanical body, can do menial tasks, and see other people through what it uses for eyes, but it is not really aware of itself or others. This ability to be aware of itself and others may develop but it is hard to see how. A sentient AI could prove that not all persons are humans, and that they should be treated with respect either way. We see developments in programming robots that are used to help people. For example in a TV documentary, we see robots that are programmed with artificial intelligence that help people with emotional problems. They can also communicate with people on different topics. But they are not aware of those people or themselves. In the 2004 film, I, Robot, which made big money at the box office during it’s initial release date. The story of the film was based on the fact that the first robots were controlled by people, but over time they changed the way they acted and somehow became self-controlling AI’s. But again they never really explained how the robots became self aware.
ReplyDeleteIt is almost impossible to know if a sentient AI will eventually acquire personhood but there are many aspects that clearly differ between a robot and a human that encourage the fact that this will never happen. Certain examples can include that we have actual bodies and are not technology, we have raw emotions and feelings that are not programmed to occur, we also have laws and morals. Humans are alive while robots are machinery. Therefore, I believe that robots will evolve incredibly over time, but I do not believe a sentient AI can ever completely acquire the status of personhood. I also think it would be detrimental to society if they did. What would happen to the human race? Would these robots replace humans all together? That being said, no one can completely know what the future holds for our society.
ReplyDelete-Rachael Myers
I do not know if sentient AI could ever possess consciousness over time. However I believe that it might be able to develop consciousness aspects over time by learning. Through being developed and learning from other humans on how they act or perhaps their facial expressions. They might possess conscious features however I do not think that they will ever fully possess consciousness due to their physical feelings. As we saw in class there was a video of robot playing a game with a boy and when it was the robot's turn, a man came in and told him to go in the closet. We saw the robot resist and telling the man that it is not fair. We clearly saw that he upset about that however if the man were to hit the robot it would most likely not feel anything. I believe in order to be conscious you have to feel physical pain. Maybe in some time people will be able to create AI that feels physical pain however for now they do not feel any physical pain and are therefore not close to having a consciousness in my opinion.
ReplyDelete-Megan Valiquette
Personally, I believe it is only a matter of time before artificial intelligence acquires personhood. In fact, I’d argue we’re already heading down that very road today.
ReplyDeleteNow, just to be clear, this deals strictly with the personhood of AI–which is a socially defined category based on the social and legal opinion of a culture–and not a discussion on the merits of said personhood.
In any case, it is my belief that very soon, we will begin to see a discourse in the legal sector on assigning personhood to robots and, eventually, Artificial Intelligence. We’re already witnessing the grassroots of this movement today, such as with the European Union’s push to attribute personhood to autonomous robots (Delcker), which could easily transition towards artificial intelligence given a few years.
However, when it comes to this question, I don’t believe legal personhood is truly what is being asked of the reader. This status, it seems, will most likely emerge from a financial convenience. I doubt these lobbyists and legislators will truly regard the artificial intelligence as persons; rather they will be commodities with an opportune categorization. Instead, what I truly see as the crux of this question is whether or not artificial intelligence will ever gain social personhood.
To this question, I once again respond that I see it as being just a matter of time. In Japan, for example, it’s already pretty much a given that robots and artificial intelligences are to be granted social personhood (Ito). Though the West is not as far along on this path, we’re already seeing the beginnings of this, such as with the studies demonstrating that humans are capable of assigning intrinsic moral value to robots such as Robovie (Carroll).
Essentially, the way I see it, I think it’s an inevitability–especially in the hypothetical event that legal assignment of personhood occurs.
-David Vauthier
Carroll, Chris, and Max Aguilera-Hellweg. “Us. And Them.” National Geographic, 14 Sept. 2017, www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2011/08/robots/.
Delcker, Janosch, and Janosch Delcker. “Europe Divided over Robot 'Personhood'.” POLITICO, POLITICO, 13 Apr. 2018, www.politico.eu/article/europe-divided-over-robot-ai-artificial-intelligence-personhood/.
Ito, Joi. “Why Westerners Fear Robots and the Japanese Do Not.” Wired, Conde Nast, 31 July 2018, www.wired.com/story/ideas-joi-ito-robot-overlords/.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is an almost unavoidable conclusion that AI eventually possess consciousness. As humans, we have been designing robots after ourselves for years, and I believe that the next logical jump in robotic capability will be related to their cognitive abilities. Consciousness is defined according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "the quality or state of being aware especially of something within oneself," which is a state that robots are already headed towards. For example, the National Geographic article "Us. And them." describes a prototype of a robot being built that can adjust its behaviour based on the physical reactions of the children it is playing with. Although much of this action is based on programming for specific body language, it shows that we are moving closer and closer to a time when robots will be able to think for themselves while being aware of what they're thinking.
ReplyDeleteThe evolution of robots into beings with consciousness creates several ethical dilemmas. If these robots are now aware of their own thinking and feelings, would they need rights comparable to that of a human? Would having them work non-stop for no pay be considered cruel, since they can feel and have independent thoughts? How would we deal with employment with humans, if the robots become more and more similar to us? Would we hire humans over robots in even more domains, and would that lead to problematically higher unemployment rates? It is these questions that make me believe that the change in robotic abilities is not necessarily a positive one, because although it favours progress and development, these new realities may come at a cost for humans.
Works cited:
Carroll, Chris, and Max Aguilera-Hellweg. “Us. And Them.” National Geographic, 14 Sept. 2017, www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2011/08/robots/.
Merriam-Webster editors. “Consciousness.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consciousness.
I completely agree with your rating of the film as I watched it for the first time recently. The combination of low-key lighting and costumes of the actors were well made and expressed a brighter tone of the film, but also highlighted a lot of darker tones of the film. The relationship between the main character Neil and the artificial intelligence known Samantha really helped to improve and support this fact as they had wonderful times and dark times throughout the film. Their relationship is very similar to the relationship saw in the television show "Futurama". Within one episode, a robot possessing artificial intelligence begins to have relations with a human as well. The show might have a lot of comedic undertone to this approach, but they present the same ethical questions brought up when watching the film "Her". Overall, I believe this review is well written and points out the main thematic techniques that highlight what makes "Her" such a great film.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 2
ReplyDeleteI believe sentient AI will eventually be able to acquire consciousness but not in the near future. Although, it’s hard to say with certainty that it will happen in the future, the technological advances that have been made so far have surpassed limits previously set. Therefore, it is only reasonable to assume humans will eventually create a conscious sentient AI machine.
Consciousness is the quality or state of being able to perceive or be aware of an external object or something within oneself. The AI we currently have, in regard to human behaviour, can, at most, only analyze physiological signs of human in front of them. For instance, the robot that plays a ball game with autistic children is an example of it being able to analyze its surroundings. It can detect when the child is bored or aggravated and adjust its behaviour accordingly. However, even though being able to analyze and process data is far from being conscious, its ability to adjust to the information received brings the possibility of AI consciousness as it is a step in that direction. I do think we are on the path of creating AI robots able to achieve this state of consciousness since we have already tremendously improved the AI technology in the last couple of years.
- Winifred Jia
DeleteWith constant technological advancements arising it is apparent that eventually artificial intelligence will develop a conscious mind. We have developed self driving cars as of now which in itself is groundbreaking development and scientists will continue to discover new ways to improve AI. Most computer scientists think that consciousness is a characteristic that will emerge as technology develops. Some believe that consciousness involves accepting new information, storing and retrieving old information and cognitive processing of it all into perceptions and actions according to Professor Subhash Kak. If that’s right, then one day machines will concur complete consciousness, being able to gather more information than a human beings, store more than libraries, access databases in milliseconds and compute all of it into decisions more thorough and logical than us humans will ever be capable of. This brings in the possibility of AI rising above us and taking over, such as in the movie The Matrix.
ReplyDeleteTo begin, I would like to comment on the aesthetics of this blog as I believe that it is very clean and well organized, making it easy to follow and motivates readers to want to watch it. Additionally, for someone that has not seen the movie, such as myself, the plot written gave me good insight on what the film was about which further inclined me to want to watch it. I was able to connect the major theme introduced, "if Artificial Intelligence will take over the job of humans" with the movie The Terminator because they both share similar themes. For example, the movie The Terminator tells story of Skynet, an artificial intelligence system, that becomes self-aware and eventually, hostile. Therefore, The Terminator is the future that Her foreshadows as it brings up the issue that Skytnet is taking over the world with an army of lethal robot soldiers. Consequently, much like Her, this movie demonstrates the idea that A.I is taking over the jobs of humans.
ReplyDelete-Kaitlin Cipriano