In this age of rapid tech evolution, companies around the world are waking up to the limitless possibilities of Artificial Intelligence. The tech giant Google has recently invested $400 million in buying the artificial intelligence firm “Deep Mind. According to reports, tech entrepreneurs Mark Zuckerburg, Elon Musk and actor Ashton Kutcher have also invested $40 million in the artificial intelligence firm Vicarious FPC.
Ironically, Hollywood had started flirting with the theme of A.I. way back in 1968 when Stanley Kubrick’s A Space Odyssey came out. Collaboration between machines and human brains has always got director’s attention. From action blockbuster Terminator series to the romantic flick HER, writers have tried to create a cosmic connection between man and their machines. Though, in the world of Artificial Intelligence, everything is not as sane as we think it is.
The upcoming movie Transcendence treads in a territory where it shows the evil side of the technology. Transcendence which is directed by the ace cinematographer Wally Pfister who has worked on movies like Insomnia, The Prestige, Batman Begins & Inception, is a story of a specialist on Artificial Intelligence whose benign plans go wrong when he gets unwanted attention from the anti-technology extremists.
| |
Played by Johnny Depp, Dr. Will Caster is the foremost researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence, working to create a sentient machine that combines the collective intelligence of everything ever known with the full range of human emotions. His highly controversial experiments have made him famous, but they have also made him the prime target of anti-technology extremists who will do whatever it takes to stop him. However, in their attempt to destroy Will, they inadvertently become the catalyst for him to succeed – to be a participant in his own transcendence. For his wife Evelyn (played by Rebecca Hall) and best friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany), both fellow researchers, the question is not if they can – but if they should. Their worst fears are realized as Will’s thirst for knowledge evolves into a seemingly omnipresent quest for power, to what end is unknown.
Transcendence releases in India on 18th April. The film is directed by Christopher Nolan long-term associate Wally Pfister. The film stars Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, Rebecca Hall and Kate Mara.