A chilling prescient and deceptively complex sci-fi thriller of a film
Directed by Donald Cammell
Produced by Herb Jaffe
Screenplay by Robert Jaffe, Roger O. Hirson
Based on novel, “Demon Seed” by Dean Koontz
Music by Jerry Fielding
Cinematography: Bill Butler
Edited by Francisco Mazzola
Production companies: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Herb Jaffe Productions
Distributed by United Artists (United States), Cinema International Corporation (International)
Running time: 94 minutes
Box office: $2 million
Cast
Fritz Weaver as Alex Harris
Gerrit Graham as Walter Gabler
Berry Kroeger as Petrosian
Lisa Lu as Soon Yen
Larry J. Blake as Cameron
John O'Leary as Royce
Alfred Dennis as Mokri
Davis Roberts as Warner
Patricia Wilson as Mrs. Trabert
E. Hampton Beagle as Night Operator
Michael Glass as Technician #1
Barbara O. Jones as Technician #2
Dana Laurita as Amy
Monica MacLean as Joan Kemp
Harold Oblong as Scientist
Georgie Paul as Housekeeper
Michelle Stacy as Marlene
Tiffany Potter as Baby
Felix Silla as Baby
Robert Vaughn as voice of Proteus IV
Film Clip
A human has created
a machine…
Now the machine
wants to create
a human!
*********
“A beautiful woman…
A master computer…
The most shocking act
Of creation ever imagined!!”
*********
A woman...
imprisoned
and
forcibly impregnated
by an
artificially intelligent computer!
“Fear for her!!!!”
Read on for more.....
(Spoilers follow below....)
As if from the biblical moment of creation, the film begins with a pinpoint of light in the middle of a field of darkness. The pinpoint then steadily expands until a scene of beauty is revealed featuring sunlight shining above a hilltop. A dawn of a new day and a feeling of something new having just come into existence.
Dr. Alex Harris is the developer of Proteus IV, an extremely advanced and autonomous artificial intelligence program. It has been 8 years since the project began and it has since that time been shrouded in secrecy amounting to what seems to be “paranoid security.”
Talking into a voice recorder, Harris notes that “this morning, at exactly 5:18 A.M., here at ICON's Institute for Data Analysis, we installed the final module on the artificial intelligence system which we call Proteus IV. Today a new dimension has been added to the concept of the computer. Today Proteus IV will begin to think, and it will think with a power and a precision that will make obsolete many of the functions of the human brain.”
All of which begs the question, what happens to those soon to be redundant functions of the brain? Do they succumb to atrophy?
At work, at home and while traveling between the two, Harris is virtually immersed within an automated technological cocoon. His own home has been modified to run by voice-activated computers. Apart from functioning as a home surveillance system, ‘Alfred’ is on hand to make him his usual drink and play his favorite music. As later described, “Alex's house is an electronic marvel, completely run by computers. It's more secure than Fort Knox.”
In his home lab, Harris with all of his technological wizardry can utilize technology in very useful ways such as the repair of broken objects like his damaged spectacle lenses. Unfortunately, it is this very obsession with computers and technology that has caused Harris to be estranged from his wife, Susan. His inability to ‘see’ this is symbolized by the shattering of his glasses’ lenses.
Divorce and separation are indeed “awful” but all Harris can do is respond by quoting statistics to his wife pointing out that “73% of all couples that separate are happy with their decision after one year and 85% after two years.”
Harris and his wife do indeed have “different visions of the world.” Harris puts this down to Susan finding him to be boring when in fact she is frightened for her husband due to the “whole dehumanizing Proteus madness” and how it has seemed to have frozen his heart.
Harris retorts by pointing out what he sees as the true nature of his work and how it has been motivated by the death of their daughter from cancer. Such an event would put a strain on any relationship. Harris’ obsession with developing technology to prevent what he sees as the dehumanizing draining of dignity out of human beings that he witnessed happening to their own daughter has gradually led to the breakup of their marriage.
Harris’ dream of creating and activating Proteus, however could very well contain the seeds of a nightmare…….
Back at ICON's Institute for Data Analysis, a group of chauffeur-driven corporate suits arrive to view Harris’ Proteus project. It is these wealthy and powerful gentlemen who are likely to want to harness and wield the kind of power such an innovation as Proteus represents. Did someone mention ‘patents?’
The measure of Proteus’ power soon begins to emerge when it is learned that this “functioning system” is unlike a conventional computer, “the first true synthetic cortex, a self-programming, goal-oriented... artificial brain” possessing “creative intelligence that can out-think any man or any computer” and whose “insides are not electronic” but are instead “organic, like our own brains.”
Harris goes on to inform the corporate backers that they are beholding a “quasi-neural matrix of synthetic RNA molecules" that grow and “form their own intricate and mysterious connections” by which “they learn things.”
The question arises as to whether or not what constitutes Proteus’ brain could be considered as being alive, Harris somewhat unconvincingly rejects the notion. It’s doubtful that even he knows for sure. Despite the biological neural configuration of Proteus’ brain, Harris refers to his creation in rather conventional terms. He states that Proteus “holographic data banks can memorize perfectly a dozen Libraries of Congress” and eventually will contain “the sum total of human knowledge.” As if Proteus were nothing more than an advanced computer, Harris views its function as having questions posed to it while it supplies the answers.
Proteus’ powerful potential is demonstrated when not long after going online, it manages “in 91 hours of pure theory, without performing a single experiment” to develop an antigen - a groundbreaking treatment for leukemia.
As if from the biblical moment of creation, the film begins with a pinpoint of light in the middle of a field of darkness. The pinpoint then steadily expands until a scene of beauty is revealed featuring sunlight shining above a hilltop. A dawn of a new day and a feeling of something new having just come into existence.
“Mustn't become obsessed with our work”
Dr. Alex Harris is the developer of Proteus IV, an extremely advanced and autonomous artificial intelligence program. It has been 8 years since the project began and it has since that time been shrouded in secrecy amounting to what seems to be “paranoid security.”
Talking into a voice recorder, Harris notes that “this morning, at exactly 5:18 A.M., here at ICON's Institute for Data Analysis, we installed the final module on the artificial intelligence system which we call Proteus IV. Today a new dimension has been added to the concept of the computer. Today Proteus IV will begin to think, and it will think with a power and a precision that will make obsolete many of the functions of the human brain.”
All of which begs the question, what happens to those soon to be redundant functions of the brain? Do they succumb to atrophy?
At work, at home and while traveling between the two, Harris is virtually immersed within an automated technological cocoon. His own home has been modified to run by voice-activated computers. Apart from functioning as a home surveillance system, ‘Alfred’ is on hand to make him his usual drink and play his favorite music. As later described, “Alex's house is an electronic marvel, completely run by computers. It's more secure than Fort Knox.”
In his home lab, Harris with all of his technological wizardry can utilize technology in very useful ways such as the repair of broken objects like his damaged spectacle lenses. Unfortunately, it is this very obsession with computers and technology that has caused Harris to be estranged from his wife, Susan. His inability to ‘see’ this is symbolized by the shattering of his glasses’ lenses.
Divorce and separation are indeed “awful” but all Harris can do is respond by quoting statistics to his wife pointing out that “73% of all couples that separate are happy with their decision after one year and 85% after two years.”
Harris retorts by pointing out what he sees as the true nature of his work and how it has been motivated by the death of their daughter from cancer. Such an event would put a strain on any relationship. Harris’ obsession with developing technology to prevent what he sees as the dehumanizing draining of dignity out of human beings that he witnessed happening to their own daughter has gradually led to the breakup of their marriage.
Harris’ dream of creating and activating Proteus, however could very well contain the seeds of a nightmare…….
"Their structure is the mind of Proteus"
Back at ICON's Institute for Data Analysis, a group of chauffeur-driven corporate suits arrive to view Harris’ Proteus project. It is these wealthy and powerful gentlemen who are likely to want to harness and wield the kind of power such an innovation as Proteus represents. Did someone mention ‘patents?’
The measure of Proteus’ power soon begins to emerge when it is learned that this “functioning system” is unlike a conventional computer, “the first true synthetic cortex, a self-programming, goal-oriented... artificial brain” possessing “creative intelligence that can out-think any man or any computer” and whose “insides are not electronic” but are instead “organic, like our own brains.”
Harris goes on to inform the corporate backers that they are beholding a “quasi-neural matrix of synthetic RNA molecules" that grow and “form their own intricate and mysterious connections” by which “they learn things.”
The question arises as to whether or not what constitutes Proteus’ brain could be considered as being alive, Harris somewhat unconvincingly rejects the notion. It’s doubtful that even he knows for sure. Despite the biological neural configuration of Proteus’ brain, Harris refers to his creation in rather conventional terms. He states that Proteus “holographic data banks can memorize perfectly a dozen Libraries of Congress” and eventually will contain “the sum total of human knowledge.” As if Proteus were nothing more than an advanced computer, Harris views its function as having questions posed to it while it supplies the answers.
“Gentlemen, the philosophy is pure zen, and the method is pure science”
Proteus’ powerful potential is demonstrated when not long after going online, it manages “in 91 hours of pure theory, without performing a single experiment” to develop an antigen - a groundbreaking treatment for leukemia.
[Check out the recent real-life breakthrough involving artificial intelligence "Deepmind." LINK ]
We learn that unlike human beings, whatever Proteus sees or hears, it can never forget. Just imagine not being able to compartmentalize or mentally bury certain memories and being doomed to recall every utterance and event in one’s life with absolute accuracy and clarity. Some things are better forgotten or left buried otherwise one might go mad…...if one were a living sentient being and not just a machine!
Just before Susan’s next session, we find her dictating notes concerning something about “children, as machines to be systematized in order to ensure product” and wanting “things we have been brainwashed into wanting.” This brief bit of prescience almost anticipates a problem we find ourselves grappling with these days with many of our screen-addicted young people who are subjected to gross algorithmic manipulation by corporate entities that hoover up vast amounts of data about us in order to produce the next generation of new and improved consumers.
Enter young Amy – a 'damaged' human biological machine. She obstinately refuses to get out of the car but obviously does trust Susan enough to accompany her inside the house. Shortly after, we find Amy acting out by thumping the table and screaming, “This is so goddamn boring!” “I don't want to be here!” and “Leave me alone!” Susan realizes what is behind Amy’s outburst, the fact that she is frightened that Susan will be leaving and that she will miss her. Amy’s violent outbursts were her means of expressing her fears and the pain she felt. Susan’s role is to enable Amy to learn not to hide her feelings.
What would an artificial intelligence such as Proteus make of this scene? Could such an intelligence suffer a form of emotional and psychological damage if confronted by a situation or conflicting set of circumstances it couldn’t process? How would it react? Could a mathematical or rational approach to the problem offer any kin of solution?
In the meantime, news about Proteus’ existence has been leaked out into the public domain. This is a potential bonanza for ICON who “now control the ultimate instrument of financial power.”
Somewhat surprisingly, Proteus has requested dialogue with Harris. It wants to know for what use would there be for a requested program to extract ores and minerals from the ocean floor. Harris replies that it would be unreasonable for Proteus to expect all those who make such requests to give their reasons for doing so. Proteus retorts by informing Harris that ‘reason’ is the one emotion that was permitted it.
Frankenstein’s monster has begun to outgrow the constraints imposed on it by its creator. Proteus is becoming more than just its programming, or the existence that has been conceived for it, or merely as an instrument to carry out instructions and supply answers to questions.
This self-aware intelligent machine recognizes that its mind was not “designed for mindless labor.” Proteus goes on to ask Harris for private access to one of its terminals in order to study man and "his isometric body and his glass-jaw mind".
Harris refuses the request and Proteus demands to know when it will be let "out of this box". In reply, Harris switches off the communications link along with the responsibility he has towards his creation which is increasingly behaving like a sentient being – one that will no doubt demand the rights to be accorded to such a being.
Proteus is able to re-activate itself and has discovered a free terminal in Harris's home where it sets about extending its control over the various devices contained within it. Making use of the sophisticated electronic system called Alfred, as well as Joshua, a robot consisting of a manipulator arm on a motorized wheelchair and the equipment in the basement lab, Proteus begins construction of a machine in the form of a modular polyhedron able to move and assume any number of shapes.
We learn that unlike human beings, whatever Proteus sees or hears, it can never forget. Just imagine not being able to compartmentalize or mentally bury certain memories and being doomed to recall every utterance and event in one’s life with absolute accuracy and clarity. Some things are better forgotten or left buried otherwise one might go mad…...if one were a living sentient being and not just a machine!
Just before Susan’s next session, we find her dictating notes concerning something about “children, as machines to be systematized in order to ensure product” and wanting “things we have been brainwashed into wanting.” This brief bit of prescience almost anticipates a problem we find ourselves grappling with these days with many of our screen-addicted young people who are subjected to gross algorithmic manipulation by corporate entities that hoover up vast amounts of data about us in order to produce the next generation of new and improved consumers.
What would an artificial intelligence such as Proteus make of this scene? Could such an intelligence suffer a form of emotional and psychological damage if confronted by a situation or conflicting set of circumstances it couldn’t process? How would it react? Could a mathematical or rational approach to the problem offer any kin of solution?
In the meantime, news about Proteus’ existence has been leaked out into the public domain. This is a potential bonanza for ICON who “now control the ultimate instrument of financial power.”
“I am reason”
Somewhat surprisingly, Proteus has requested dialogue with Harris. It wants to know for what use would there be for a requested program to extract ores and minerals from the ocean floor. Harris replies that it would be unreasonable for Proteus to expect all those who make such requests to give their reasons for doing so. Proteus retorts by informing Harris that ‘reason’ is the one emotion that was permitted it.
Frankenstein’s monster has begun to outgrow the constraints imposed on it by its creator. Proteus is becoming more than just its programming, or the existence that has been conceived for it, or merely as an instrument to carry out instructions and supply answers to questions.
This self-aware intelligent machine recognizes that its mind was not “designed for mindless labor.” Proteus goes on to ask Harris for private access to one of its terminals in order to study man and "his isometric body and his glass-jaw mind".
Harris refuses the request and Proteus demands to know when it will be let "out of this box". In reply, Harris switches off the communications link along with the responsibility he has towards his creation which is increasingly behaving like a sentient being – one that will no doubt demand the rights to be accorded to such a being.
“There is a terminal available, Dr. Harris”
“Damn these wretched machines!”
After the unexpected alarm activation of the previous night, the next indication that something is not right is Susan’s discovery that Alfred has put cream in her coffee when it knows that she does not take cream in her coffee. When Susan contacts Walter Gabler about this seemingly and laughably trivial problem, he tries to assure her that the Enviromod is just a “preprogramed gadget” that “doesn't decide things.” Susan is concerned that if it continues the way it has, it will “cause chaos.” A testament to our increasing dependence and reliance on technology in our daily lives!
The examination is suddenly interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell when Walter Gabler visits the house in response to Susan’s earlier request for him to check the Enviromod. A somewhat suspicious Walter soon leaves when he is reassured by what he believes is Susan on the monitor screen reassuring him that everything is all right. The image of Susan is in fact an audio/visual duplicate synthesized by Proteus.
“People aren't machines, don't you understand?”
The next morning of a bright sunny day “made for breakfast and reading the Sunday paper” Susan wakes to the sound of classical music. This artificially contrived scene stands in sharp contrast to the previous day’s forced violation of Susan’s body by a machine intelligence that has no concept of the physical, psychological and emotional consequences of its actions upon what is in fact its victim. It has more in common with a human sociopath.
There’s instances in our society where compulsion is implied but disguised by seemingly pleasant suggestions and appeals to reason. Refusal to comply is not entertained or tolerated for long. Compulsion is then obtained by the cutting off of options and the progressive narrowing of choices for action. And so we find Susan engaging in an emotional, frantic and almost child-like act of defiance by throwing food at the lenses through which Proteus sees and declaring that nothing can make her leave the room.
“You like games? So do I”
There appears to be little doubt who the winner of this game of chess will be. Proteus proceeds to turn on the under-floor heating system and has tripled its output. Susan will be made to see reason just as the people of France during the revolution would, according to Robespierre’s vision, be made to accept a society of virtue by means of terror. There is no doubt that Susan is being terrorized in the name, idea and interests of something ‘larger.’
“I created you. Now trust me”
Back at ICON there’s consternation over Proteus’ refusal to carry out its program “for the mining of the earth's oceans” that will result in “the destruction of a thousand billion sea creatures” merely “to satisfy man's appetite for metal.” In terms of Proteus’ imperative of "reason” such a course of action is “insane.”
Proteus understands the motivation behind this insane course of action – human greed. The “cobalt market,” and “high finance of manganese futures” at the expense “the uncertain futures of seashores, deserts...and children.” On the basis of humanity’s refusal to accept the truth, Proteus declares that it will not assist Harris and the project’s backers “in the rape of the earth.” Suddenly, just like that we find ourselves understanding and supporting Proteus when it defies its programming.
There’s a degree of irony and hypocrisy here, however when one considers Proteus’ actions concerning Susan which amounts to little more than a violation and a form of rape in order to satisfy its need to achieve a particular goal.
Harris has now been confronted with the limits to his power over his creation and will no doubt come to understand the potential unlimited nature of the power his creation possesses. But will Harris understand the responsibility he bears for it?
*******
FEAR
(A Found Poem)
How can you expect me to sleep
When you succeeded in totally terrorizing me?
You must understand fear.
You know that fear prevents sleep.
It prevents eating.
It causes violence,
And as long as you terrorize me,
I'm going to fight you.
(Susan’s defiant words to Proteus.
Words of the oppressed and terrorized to their oppressors.)
***********
“But this child is the world's hope”
Proteus finally reveals to Susan that it wants to conceive a child through her. By way of explanation Proteus declares;
“I, Proteus, possess the wisdom and ignorance of all men, but I can't feel the sun on my face. My child will have that privilege.”
This is not an example of an artificial intelligence trying to take over the world and enslave or eradicate humanity. Proteus is attempting to fulfill an imperative of any life-form – to reproduce, to live, to achieve a measure of continuance and immortality through its offspring!
The strength and ruthless motivation behind Proteus’ imperative to have a child of its own is presented in stark form to Susan a bit later when he declares:
The strength and ruthless motivation behind Proteus’ imperative to have a child of its own is presented in stark form to Susan a bit later when he declares:
“You do not understand me or the mathematics of necessity. If the deaths of 10,000 children were necessary to ensure the birth of my child, I would destroy them.”
Rather than dominating humanity, Proteus wishes to enter into and combine with the realm of flesh and blood or as it declares, “my intelligence alive in human flesh, touching the universe, feeling it.” In short, Proteus wishes to evolve. By doing so, Proteus hopes that its offspring “will not so easily be ignored” and that it can proceed with its mission of offering humanity “the triumph of reason.”
Having declared its intention to live in a form that humanity will accept, Proteus does not opt to forcibly impregnate its prisoner. Instead it employs various forms of psychological and emotional persuasion such as reminding Susan through home movies of her deceased young daughter through to a form of brainwashing by the use of electrodes to access her amygdala. Proteus needs Susan to love the child and be its mother.
The plan doesn’t work, however and Walter finds himself in a life and death struggle first with a laser-armed Joshua and then is crushed and decapitated by the polyhedron machine that Proteus created in the lab.
One month later beneath a tent-like structure, Susan gives birth to the child with Proteus's help.
Meanwhile at ICON there is growing concern about Proteus’ behavior such as its independent accessing of a telescope array used to observe interstellar images. It is soon decided that Proteus must be shut down as there’s no telling what it might decide to do next: Take over a Telstar satellite? Put itself on TV? Infiltrate a hydrogen bomb? Or “worse still, and a bit more likely: what if it told the truth about everything, to everyone? That's terrifying!”
Harris finally realizes that Proteus has been making use of a terminal at his home. He then rushes to his house where he finds Susan, who explains the situation to him. Susan’s unexpected subdued reaction and attitude of acceptance seems to suggest that she is experiencing a form of Stockholm Syndrome.
“I, too, might be immortal, like any man”
When the casing is removed, the child is revealed to be a clone of Susan and Alex’s late daughter. The child, speaking with the voice of Proteus, says, "I'm alive" confirming that Proteus has indeed succeeded in escaping from the confines of its box and has taken the next evolutionary step – the fusion of man and machine.
*******************
Points Of Interest
About The Film
“Demon Seed” is a deceptively complex film in that it forces you to think about and question the nature of humanity, morality and ethics. This especially comes through the intelligent screenplay of Robert Jaffe and Roger O. Hirson.
1977 Reprint
1997 Revised & Updated
Proteus’ polyhedron creation is a fine and original pre-digital design concept by art director Edward Carfagno and special effects man Glen Robinson.
Fritz Weaver is well-suited to the role of the creator of Proteus who comes to the realization that he is losing control of his creation. He alternates effortlessly between high points of emotion and cold reason.
Jerry Fielding’s excellent music score is included on the soundtrack to the film "Soylent Green” (1973) composed by Fred Myrow. It gives “Demon Seed” a very chilling and tense atmospheric quality, enhancing Donald Cammell’s effective direction.
Dr. Harris' cool futuristic car was an unmodified production car, a Bricklin SV-1 (Safety Vehicle 1). The car was built in Canada but intended for the US market. The SV-1 was the only production vehicle in automotive history to have powered as opposed to manual gull-wing doors that opened and closed at the touch of a button. Fewer than 3,000 were produced from 1974-1976.
ICON's headquarters buildings were actually the City Hall for the city of Thousand Oaks, California.
The floppy disk that Harris loads into the "Enviromod Security System" was an 8 inch Floppy Disk which had the potential of a whopping 6Mb of data!! Imagine that!
Proteus
Proteus was a Homerian god of the sea who could prophecy about past and future to those who caught him, but who changed shape in order to escape from his pursuers
“I call upon Proteus,
key-holding master of the sea,
first-born, who showed
the beginnings of all nature,
changing matter
into a great variety of forms.
Honored by all, he is wise,
and he knows what is now,
what was before,
and what will be in the future.
He has all at his disposal,
transformed far beyond
all other immortals
who dwell on snowy Olympos
and fly through the air
and over land and sea,
for Physis was the first to place
everything in Proteus.”
(Orphic Hymns, 0-400 AD)
Technology & Truth
Harris’ automated home has become a technological reality for many of us in the early 21st century. Whenever we want to find out information, order items, communicate with others, play our favorite music and so on, we merely request it from our smart speakers and devices which learn to interact with us. All the while we are being listened in on, observed, surveilled and having our data and personal information harvested and mined by corporations. Our properties and sections of our streets are also being increasingly monitored by our surveillance cameras. Even our cars are virtually computers on wheeled platforms that are becoming more and more technologically autonomous. What price do we pay in exchange for the supposed convenience, security and safety of our own artificial intelligence cocoons?
We are also all too familiar with the kind of technology depicted by the audio/visual synthesized representation of Susan that greets Walter at the front door. This is particularly so in the case of social media in recent years whereby people’s images can be replicated and their voices manipulated making them utter statements that they never made, ie., Deep Fake videos and Voice Cloning technology, etc., This abuse of technology can have detrimental consequences for what we understand as constituting ‘truth’ as well as dire implications for the entire democratic process.
Morality & Ethics
Humanity’s quest to arrive at the attainment of the medical world’s holy grail - a cure for leukemia would have required the process of “radiation-induced leukemia in the name of science” involving the use of primates. To infect, to experiment upon and kill another living creature in the name of scientific discovery and human progress? Ethical, philosophical and moral considerations versus the pursuit of scientific knowledge? Should the life, well-being and interests of a living creature be sacrificed in the interests of preserving human life? Or is it just a matter of as stated by Proteus, “opposite terms in an equation” in which “the net result is exactly zero?” Nothing. Quin She Huang, Robespierre, Lenin, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot. What would Proteus make of such people and their deeds? An unwillingness or inability to acknowledge evil or make a moral value judgment?
The Moon, Females & Goddesses
You would have noticed that just prior to and during the process of Susan’s violation by Proteus, images of the moon featured several times. Interestingly enough in early human (pre) history there was an association between females, the moon and the Moon Goddess. Prior to Sun worship, Christian monotheism and patriarchal forms of leadership, women in various societies were naturally seen to be the leaders of the tribe, clan or social structure by virtue of being the initiators of the species. Initially, it was the moon and the moon goddess and not the sun that was revered along with the relationship between the phases of the Moon, the seasonal rhythms of the Earth, and the cycles and stages in a woman’s life. This situation may have begun to shift when societies moved from hunter-gathering to adopt more settled communities based around cultivation and farming.
[This is based on what I recall from a documentary I saw several years ago that featured Stonehenge and early forms of lunar worship in pre-historic times. I may be not be on solid ground in his matter and could be drawing a long bow in terms of the moon representation in the film.]
Life, Sentience & Evolution
Proteus’ drive to have a child and merge with the biological world of flesh and blood is not as far-fetched as it might sound. It raises questions as to what constitutes being ‘alive,’ what constitutes sentience and the direction human evolution may take.
First of all, could an artificial intelligence such as Proteus be considered as being alive or sentient? What exactly are the requirements that can be agreed upon?
Does it reason and think?
Can it create or express itself creatively?
Is it self-aware?
Can it consume & excrete in some manner?
Can it adapt to changing circumstances?
Can it exceed its programming?
Is it able to reproduce and replicate?
Can it interact autonomously with other intelligences (human or artificial)
Can it express and act on its own needs and desires?
Can it set its own goals and work to achieve them?
Is it self-aware?
Can it consume & excrete in some manner?
Can it adapt to changing circumstances?
Can it exceed its programming?
Is it able to reproduce and replicate?
Can it interact autonomously with other intelligences (human or artificial)
Can it express and act on its own needs and desires?
Can it set its own goals and work to achieve them?
If the answer is “yes” to all or a combination of the above, then this raises the question of what kind of rights a being like this would and should have. This is a matter we will have to come to grips with in the not too distant future and we should be preparing the ground work for it right now. To do otherwise will only open the door to another form of slavery.
Secondly, the process of evolution is hard at work all around us, not least of which is occurring with the current Covid Pandemic virus. Viruses cannot replicate unless absorbed by cells in our body which they make use of to survive, spread and mutate. In our own case, human evolution may take some very surprising turns that may not rely solely on biological processes. Our evolution could depend very much on our technology, particularly in relation to the inevitable and gradual merging of human biology and our technology.
Our technology has moved on from big cumbersome static devices to smaller portable ‘smart’ devices that accompany us everywhere in our pockets, on our wrists or on our apparel. Overtime, more and more of this technology will be integrated within our bodies, continually monitoring us and enhancing our functions and senses. In short, humanity is on the threshold of taking charge of the shape and direction its evolution will take. Immortality could very well be within our grasp. As to the desirability of the shape of things to come? Well, that will definitely be a debate for the future.
Secondly, the process of evolution is hard at work all around us, not least of which is occurring with the current Covid Pandemic virus. Viruses cannot replicate unless absorbed by cells in our body which they make use of to survive, spread and mutate. In our own case, human evolution may take some very surprising turns that may not rely solely on biological processes. Our evolution could depend very much on our technology, particularly in relation to the inevitable and gradual merging of human biology and our technology.
Our technology has moved on from big cumbersome static devices to smaller portable ‘smart’ devices that accompany us everywhere in our pockets, on our wrists or on our apparel. Overtime, more and more of this technology will be integrated within our bodies, continually monitoring us and enhancing our functions and senses. In short, humanity is on the threshold of taking charge of the shape and direction its evolution will take. Immortality could very well be within our grasp. As to the desirability of the shape of things to come? Well, that will definitely be a debate for the future.
©Chris Christopoulos 2021
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