GED0019 – Understanding the Self

MIDTERM EXAMINATION
Reflection Paper on the movie “Ex Machina” (2015)
Name: John Aaron B. Merza
Section: TV07

This movie, Ex Machina (2015) written by Alex Garland is a thoroughly

executed sci-fi film that created an interesting thought in my mind

about Artificial Intelligence-experiment as it delves into the idea of

our essence in a form of human.

What makes a human, human? Some might say an individual should

possess his/her own consciousness, which in the field of science is

located in the cerebral cortex of human brain, the “seat of

consciousness” — it enables an entity to focus on whatever is most

crucial for its survival and reproduction, and as a consequence, it

will progress in that path. Some would argue, it is the capability of

reasoning which in a broad manner: the developed capacity to solve new

and relatively complex problems. Some people may say it is our

capability to communicate in a simple conversation, whatever the

approach, messages of an endless variety of forms, that is, not merely

with an enormous amount of contents, but on an endless amount of

distinct subjects to inform, express feelings, or to influence. Do we

need to exhibit all of these to be called a human? If so, in a

condition of a non-human being possessing all of these attributes,

will it be concluded to be one of us?

In a Platonism perspective, I can say Ava is “a copy of a copy,

of copy” as she is made to mimic humans, by means of our intellectual

capability — an entirely abstract object that does not exist in space

and time but still made us different to non-human beings, but is

limited to the source material that has been filtered through the

human lens since at the very start it was created by humans. But Ava,

after the Turing Test, actually still did. She exhibited self-

awareness, imagination, manipulation, sexuality and empathy. A perfect

imitation of a human form that has a capacity to use her own reasoning

to overcome her desire and to make rational decisions which become

evident in the film by attacking the vulnerability of Caleb’s

emotions.

As they continue their experimentation to Ava, Nathan and Caleb

discussed the consciousness of her, the robot, do possess, and they

have mentioned its awareness. As Caleb heard Ava made a joke, he

realized she has an awareness not only for the existence of herself

but also to her surroundings as she can connect her emphatic aspect to

Caleb’s. It is kind of intriguing if this can be called as a

consciousness, since, for me consciousness is consubstantial. But the

awareness she holds can’t be told if it is the result of her own

thoughts, unique memories and feelings; or these conceptions and

thoughts articulated by AI are merely reflections of the ideas of

Human Intelligence caused by modification of known reference using an

algorithm. Which for me, draws the line between a human and AI.

If you ask an abiotic creature if it is conscious most probably

it won’t answer or if you ask a machinery/AI, it will respond with a

“no”. But if you ask a person if he or she is conscious almost

certainly he or she will respond with a “yes”, that is, because our

consciousness made our mind conscious in view of the fact that we have

this component of our mental processing that is susceptible to

rational discussion and deliberation. Humanity's position in the

evolutionary tree of life is unquestionable when compared to other

creatures. Humans are sometimes referred to as "naked apes," however

the majority of us wear clothing, which also distinguishes us from

other animals. This aspect of being human, our physical entity, derive

us from other species along with our upright posture and nakedness.

Compared to Ava, since she was made inside a laboratory, she

possesses non-human bodily characteristic as her body is built with

advance mechanism that seems to be a futuristic machine that is molded

in a human form. Though she has feminine features that describe her as

a woman like wide hips, well-formed breast, etc., as what she was

programmed and made to be; as mentioned when Nathan confronts Caleb

about what he feels after encountering Ava.

And then it was revealed that the Turing Test seems to be

manipulated since the attributes of Ava has is based on the

preferences found in the algorithm of Caleb. She was programmed to be

heterosexual, from her thoughts, attractions, and behavior. But Ava

does not possess any sexuality at all, of her own, because sexuality

is self-defined. Thus, an individual should be able to comprehend

their own sexuality in a way that is personally meaningful to them.

 Nonetheless, Ava may be able express certain characteristics, blend

into a crowd, act accordingly to the rules and regulations of where

she is at. "Being human" or "things that make us human" aren't

necessarily visible. A person, animal, or human-AI hybrid may be able

to exhibit human traits or human like characteristics. But the things

that make us human aren't our thoughts, emotions, neither our

relationships. What makes us human is simply our belief that we are

human beings.

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