Artificial Intelligence

Happy Tuesday!

I almost wrote happy Monday… and then I realized it is in fact not Monday, but Tuesday. At least I figured it out, eh?

All month long, we’ve been talking about books, television shows, and the occasional movie which have inspired me across my extensive writing career. We’ve talking about books that I do recommend and which I think most people won’t actually want to read, shows I think everyone can find something in to enjoy and shows I really think you need to find a niche for—and now, at long last, we’re coming to the end. Which means that I have two more inspirations to talk to you about.

Today, let’s go TV.

Humans

AMC

If you haven’t seen Humans, you really should. Unless you’re not great with high stress. Then maybe you shouldn’t. But it’s a seriously interesting show, which poses some great questions which I think are highly relevant in today’s society (through a roundabout kind of way).

Basically, Humans is a show about the use of androids, or synthetics, in everyday life. Everybody has a synth, a humanoid robot, who essentially acts as their housekeeper. Synths have no real consciousness. But then one small family in England gets one, and she turns out to have a mind of her own.

But what does it mean, for synthetics to have consciousness? They’re not alive, right? Or, are they alive, since they can think like a person? These are some of the questions Humans asks, as the status quo gets challenged over and over by one very small group of synths who want to free their kind from the bonds humanity have set them under.

As you all know, I write a lot of scifi. In fact, that’s what I’ve been primarily working on as of late. I like my scifi. I even have a book series which contains an android, who may or may not be fully conscious. Artificially intelligent. Which poses a lot of questions, as I’m sure you well know.

Humans was greatly inspirational to me, when writing my Earth-Space series. There were many questions I hadn’t even thought to ask, which we posed in Humans and made me think about my characters in a completely new way. I love things that can do that! We all know how much I love to think. ;-)

Essentially, Humans boils down to the politics of artificial intelligence, which, yes, is a topic highly explored in science fiction, but the way it’s handled in Humans takes it to a different level, in my opinion. It asks the hard questions, which a lot of television shows, movies, and even books struggled to ask in the first place.

For instance, can synths be tried for murder?

Definitely worth a watch, especially if you’re a fan of the artificial intelligence subgenre. Last I checked, there was at least one season on Netflix—but I haven’t checked in a while, so don’t quote me on that.

[love]

{Rani D.}