Comparing I, Robot and A.I. Artificial Intelligence by Thomas Beaudoin

Main Character: Teddy

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:17:39 UTC

Name: Teddy

Age: Non specific, old fashioned robot

Gender: Portrayed as a male teddy bear

Height: 15”

Weight: Unknown

Description:

Originally Martin’s, the Swintons sick son, robotic teddy bear he is befriended by David. Teddy takes on the role of protector for David, his motivations are to keep him safe and happy so he goes with David on his adventure to become a real boy.

Cool Technology

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:34:10 UTC

One interesting piece of technology in the AI movie is Teddy. He is a robot super toy that is designed to keep kids company while also taking the form of a comfort object, that being a teddy bear. Someone compared Teddy to a furby and honestly I think that this comparison is pretty accurate. However for the case of Teddy, he is not a terrifying demonic esc creature that will scream at you for no reason, he is more sophisticated. Even though he is not as sophisticated as the other robots in the movie he is still pretty intelligent and good company.

Ethical Dilemmas

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:34:25 UTC

One of the main ethical dilemmas in this movie is if robots have/deserve the same rights as human beings. This point is brought up with the Flesh Fairs, these are circus like events where humans brutally destroy Mecha to prove human life is superior. These fairs raise the question of whether or not robots should have the same rights as humans do especially when David is brought on and the people refuse to let him get hurt as they believe he is not Mecha since he has fear. This issue could possibly devolve into robot revolution and wanting to be treated as equals since they have emotions and can feel pain.

Rhetorical Devices

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:34:48 UTC

One of the major devices used in this movie is allusion. It is mostly seen with the story Pinocchio which is first brought up when Monica read the story to the boys. This story puts the idea of becoming a real boy into David’s head. David believes that if he becomes a real boy like Pinocchio did then Monica will truly love him, so he goes on an adventure to find the blue fairy that is capable of achieving his goal. This rhetorical device is important to the story because it demonstrates David’s level of thinking and emotions by making him believe something that only a child or a person with no sense of logic would understand.

Societal Impact

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:35:02 UTC

One of the major impacts that AI has on society in this movie is that it is replacing a lot of human connections. Like with Gigolo Joe and David, they were both created to emulate a human being in different ways but since they are not human their connections with humans are completely different. Society's overall attitude towards AI in this movie seems to depend on where they are, some places like where Joe works, people seem to be perfectly fine with it, but there are also the Flesh Fairs that roam around making it hard to decipher a proper reading on how society views robots.

Visual Aesthetics

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:35:17 UTC

This movie is very dystopian. It is set in a timeline where we as humans have almost completely destroyed the earth itself, there is a huge fall in the population of earth, and they are making way too many robots. The movie design itself feels both modern and vintage at the same time, only with the way that things are recorded and how everything is edited. It feels modern/futuristic because of the storyline but the visual itself seems much older. The visuals of the movie portray AI as being both intuitive and resourceful, as seen with the wreckage of the Flesh Fairs. We can see the future having the potential to have technology that will be capable of feeling and maybe even understanding human emotions.

Main Character: Del Spooner

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:35:45 UTC

Name: Del Spooner

Age: 37

Gender: Man

Height: 6’1”

Weight: 182 lbs

Description:

Ever since he was in an almost fatal car accident where a robot refused to listen to his orders to save a little girl instead of him, detective Spooner has had a huge mistrust of robots. He strongly believes that robots are not capable of feeling any human emotions after this accident which leads to his mistrust and slightly reasonable warryness around any robot. He wants to prove that robots can be evil and that they should not be so easily trusted.

AI Portrayal

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:37:44 UTC

AI is portrayed as something that is very safe and something that everyone should have in their homes. People love having these robots to help them in life and they trust that they will protect them if anything bad happens. The robots in this movie work strictly on logic and they are not very conscious. They are programmed to help humans and follow the laws of robotics to the T. The only robot that is different from this is Sonny, as he was created to be different from the others.

Main Character: Susan Calvin

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:37:48 UTC

Name: Susan Calvin

Age: 34

Gender: Women

Height: 5’10”

Weight: 124 lbs

Description:

She is a robot psychologist that works to make robots more human-like. She prefers the company of robots over humans as she believes that robots have no flaws. This complete trust in technology and the three laws of robotics makes it extremely hard for her to believe that any robot could have caused someone harm; Even after Sonny tries to hurt Spooner she still does not believe it to be possible.

Cool Technology

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:37:51 UTC

In the movie I Robot there are many interesting technologies but the one that caught my eye the most was the ability to create cyborgs after accidents like with Spooner. He had a major accident causing him to lose his left arm, and part of his torso but they were able to replace everything with cybernetic parts and give him back his life. This is quite similar to an amputee having a prosthetic leg or arm but the only difference is while yes we are starting to be able to connect the technology to our body it is not as sophisticated as in the movie.

Ethical Dilemmas

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:37:56 UTC

An ethical dilemma in this movie is the question of whether or not robots are able to make emotional or ethical decisions. This is portrayed in the movie when Spooner is ordering an NS-4 series robot to save a girl before himself during his accident, but since the robot did not listen it broke a law of robotics by letting the girl die. The robot did not have the same thinking a human would have, a logical being who does not base their opinions on survival statistics may have been able to save both the girl and Spooner if given enough time. This dilemma is also evident when Sonny is ordered to kill Dr, Lanning by Dr, Lanning himself. Sonny does not want to kill him but since he was given orders those eventually take over and he does break a law of robotics.

Rhetorical Devices

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:37:58 UTC

A device I found in the movie I, Robot was Irony. One of the main reasons that this device is relevant is because of how much people will trust the robots and trust that they will not break a single law. Susan Calvin said that it was impossible for a robot to be able to break one of the three laws of robotics, but we learn later on that it is very possible considering the robots killed multiple people. I find this ironic since it was said that no harm could possibly be done and the robots still managed to cause harm by almost rewriting the laws in their own minds but still following them.

Societal Impact

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:38:03 UTC

In this movie society seems to rely heavily on technology, therefore making them almost blinded to simple things or possible safety hazards. An example of this can be seen when Dr Calvin has trouble working with Spooner’s music player since it is all manual and not voice controlled unlike what she has in her home. People in the city can also seem to not have the same mistrust of robots that Spooner has, demonstrating that they have not undergone some traumatic event that a robot was a part of. Society's attitude towards AI and technology in this film seems to be mostly positive, with the possible exception of a few people here and there.

Visual Aesthetics

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:38:05 UTC

This movie does not feel as dystopian as A.I. Artificial Intelligence, it is set in a closer time period to now and most of the world seems to be very similar in the 11 year span from now to the year 2035. This movie was definitely designed with fancy future technology in mind as it showcases a lot of the different types of tech used and the movie just feels more sleek when you watch it. There is a 3 year difference between when both movies were released but even so the editing and filming style are pretty different and they feel more like 10 years apart because of the quality. The visuals of the movie focus on showing that AI is being helpful but they are also showing what could possibly be happening in a future not too far from now.

Plot Overview

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:44:18 UTC

In the year 2035 where robots are almost everywhere there is one person who is still skeptical about the whole thing. This story follows Detective Del Spooner, who is investigating the mysterious death of Dr. Alfred Lanning. Spooner believes that one of Dr. Lanning's robots killed him and decides that he needs to know exactly what happened and why he was the one that was called. During this investigation, multiple secrets of the USR (United States Robotics) are revealed to him, however he does not realize the impending danger that humanity will soon be facing.

Plot Overview

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:46:04 UTC

This movie takes place in the 22nd century, where global warming has had a huge toll on humanity and drastically reduces the earth's population. A new class of robots called Mecha are created, they are advanced humanoids that are capable of emulating human emotions. This story follows the life of David, a robot child who was designed to feel love. After a few mishaps the family abandons David and he sets himself on a journey to become a real boy, inspired by the story pinocchio. Along this journey to find the blue fairy which will make him a real boy, he makes friends with a robot male prostitute named Gigolo Joe and they embark on this journey together. Little do they know, things may not go quite as planned after getting to Manhattan.

Main Character: David

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-01 14:48:31 UTC

Name: David

Age: 11

Gender: Portrayed as a boy

Height: 4’6”

Weight: 60 lbs

Description:

David is the first ever created robot that is meant to replicate a child. He is taken in by the Swinton family to help Monica grieve her son's absence and to test how he functions in a family setting. He ends up developing the dream of becoming a real boy and goes on an adventure to try and make his dream a reality.

AI Portrayal

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-05 23:31:40 UTC

AI is portrayed as something that is more taboo, it is not widely accepted in the world or talked about. Humans are destroying some of the machines created to prove that human life is better, calling themselves Orga for organic and calling robots Mecha for mechanical. The robots in this film are very conscious of what they are doing and what is going on around them. They are programmed to act and feel like human beings, therefore it can sometimes be quite difficult to tell the difference between humans and robots. Since the robots are programmed to behave like human beings there is more emotion behind what they do, unlike in the movie I Robot where there is strictly scientific logic behind every action taken, these robots can act on emotions as well as logic.

The movie I found most compelling

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-06 23:18:58 UTC

The movie that I found to be the most compelling was I, Robot. If we compare both movies I prefer I, Robot for the action. The movie has a lot more action and engaging moments where I was left thinking about what would happen next and It really captured my attention. While watching A.I. Artificial Intelligence I found that it was a little harder for me to pay attention because of the lack of movement and action that was going on. I also personally found that there were slightly more plot holes in A.I. as I would look away for a second after David was left alone and all of a sudden a robot prostitute is brought into the storyline.

How the movies influenced my perception of AI

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-06 23:19:59 UTC

The movies honestly made me view AI as something that can be a little scary if it evolves in a way of thinking on its own. More with the movie I, Robot since the robots decide that humans aren't smart enough to protect themselves and start killing people they deem as threats. It could be very possible that robots cannot differentiate between a real threat and a fake one, therefore killing innocent people. The movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence made me see AI as something that could possibly be more lifelike and feels emotions the same way that humans do.

Concerns I have for the future after watching these movies

thomasbeaudoin1 — 2024-11-06 23:22:41 UTC

One of the main concerns I have about AI in the future after watching each of these movies is how they could possibly be used to cause harm. This could happen if someone with bad intentions were to build and design the robots, as they would follow their creators' programming and possibly ignore the laws of robotics. Another concern I have is if there is a possibility of replacing humans with AI and how it would affect human relationships. If robots have the same feelings as humans in the future they may be considered humanoid but it could possibly completely eliminate any human relationships at all.