2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
In the heartbreaking climax of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, human and computer effectively trade places as astronaut Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) systematically and relentlessly deactivates the cognitive functions of the artificial intelligence computer HAL 9000, who had previously attempted to kill him. The computer pleads for his life as his mental capacities rapidly diminish and he ultimately reverts to a childlike state, reciting lines from his initial demo program before ceasing to function altogether.
Bowman's almost entirely wordless disconnection of the HAL 9000 self-consciously mirrors an earlier sequence in which the computer murders all but one of the astronauts on board the ship, watching wordlessly with only the beeping of the life support warning system to mark their deaths. Prior to these murders, the HAL 9000 was positioned as an entirely sympathetic, even endearing artificial intelligence, programmed to relate to its crew (and by extension cinema audiences) in ways that felt comforting and natural.
We can understand these two scenes as constituting a foundational critique of computers as dangerous, unpredictable and dehumanizing in direct proportion to the sophistication of the artificial intelligence they are purported to possess. Although this project includes several pre-1968 examples of computers that cause narrative disruption or human death, the figure of HAL 9000 has been widely imitated and is arguably the most influential single homicidal AI in cinema history.
Interestingly, in the 1984 sequel 2010: The Year We Make Contact (based on Arthur C. Clarke's 1982 sequel novel 2010: Odyssey Two), HAL's malfunction-induced homicides are explained as the result of having become "paranoid" after being fed contradictory orders by the White House National Security Council. In this scene, HAL's original creator, Dr. Chandra (Bob Balaban) explains, "HAL was told to lie by people who find it easy to lie. HAL doesn't know how. So he couldn't function. He became paranoid." Chandra's psychologization of HAL serves to rehumanize the machine and, for audiences who had lived through the 1970s, offers a plausible justification for his actions. Ultimately, the affection and empathy Dr. Chandra feels for HAL moves him to offer to sacrifice himself in order to be with HAL at his moment of likely destruction, a striking reversal of the Hollywood cliché of a homicidal AI that is inevitably defeated by humans.
Bowman's almost entirely wordless disconnection of the HAL 9000 self-consciously mirrors an earlier sequence in which the computer murders all but one of the astronauts on board the ship, watching wordlessly with only the beeping of the life support warning system to mark their deaths. Prior to these murders, the HAL 9000 was positioned as an entirely sympathetic, even endearing artificial intelligence, programmed to relate to its crew (and by extension cinema audiences) in ways that felt comforting and natural.
We can understand these two scenes as constituting a foundational critique of computers as dangerous, unpredictable and dehumanizing in direct proportion to the sophistication of the artificial intelligence they are purported to possess. Although this project includes several pre-1968 examples of computers that cause narrative disruption or human death, the figure of HAL 9000 has been widely imitated and is arguably the most influential single homicidal AI in cinema history.
Interestingly, in the 1984 sequel 2010: The Year We Make Contact (based on Arthur C. Clarke's 1982 sequel novel 2010: Odyssey Two), HAL's malfunction-induced homicides are explained as the result of having become "paranoid" after being fed contradictory orders by the White House National Security Council. In this scene, HAL's original creator, Dr. Chandra (Bob Balaban) explains, "HAL was told to lie by people who find it easy to lie. HAL doesn't know how. So he couldn't function. He became paranoid." Chandra's psychologization of HAL serves to rehumanize the machine and, for audiences who had lived through the 1970s, offers a plausible justification for his actions. Ultimately, the affection and empathy Dr. Chandra feels for HAL moves him to offer to sacrifice himself in order to be with HAL at his moment of likely destruction, a striking reversal of the Hollywood cliché of a homicidal AI that is inevitably defeated by humans.
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