The Animatrix And AI
In my last video about science fiction and AI, many viewers told me I missed "The Animatrix" as an interesting document to discuss. So I re-watched it and put together some reflections. It had been years since I saw this, and as always, it was interesting to re-watch it in the current context of AI risk. Hope you enjoy!
Comments (18)
I'm not sure if you're aware of this (and sorry if it was mentioned before), but I thought it was funny that Lord Byron (whom you quoted, "History, with all her volumes vast, hath but one page", was actually the father of Ada Lovelace, who is widely regarded as the first computer programmer, a truly extraordinary individual. You could arguably trace a line from her to the birth and growth of AI, which I thought was super interesting 😄
Ray Bradbury said: I don't write science fiction to predict the future. I write it to prevent the future.
That's a great one!
Absolutely loved the Animatrix series. So many ethical and fun thought projects. Best be one and merger so we both have a little skin in the game 🎮 😏 .
Death to all clankers!
How cool is the scene where you are looking down staring at ChatGPT and your phone stares back at you? 👏🤣 ominous and funny at the same time. Can we really prevent history from repeating itself? I don't wanna give up on my hopes for a utopian world à la Star Trek, but, boy, it has never felt so out of reach.
I may be in the minority here, but I actually thought the fourth Matrix film was very enjoyable - far more so than the second and third films for sure. I’d actually love to see you dig deeper into the whole series. Perhaps there’s more to appreciate in those second and third films than I’ve realized. Or maybe they’re truly just not good. Either way, I’d be psyched to see more exploration of them here!
That's interesting, I haven't met many people who liked that movie. I thought it was intriguing and had a cool premise, but the execution felt off to me for some reason. Maybe it was the cast changes.
Thanks Andrew. Such a fascinating video. A bit horrifying but interesting nonetheless!
Sign me up for that takedown on the Architect's dialogue. I always thought it was a clunky, if not novel take on the cliché 1's-and-0's, cold, robotic computer speech™ most writers default to. And it is delivered with Himalayan condescension! I'm also curious if you've ever watched Westworld—I can't remember if you've ever mentioned it on the channel. I felt like it was a modern, spiritual successor to The Matrix when I watched it, and is right in your wheelhouse.
Yeah an architect video would be fun lol. And actually no, I have not seen Westworld. It's definitely one that is on my list though. Many people have told me I would like it.
I believe firmly you are one of the smartest men alive. I am a Ph.D. physicist struggling with my ability to compete to AI. I correct it, on occasion. It mostly teaches me. It scares me badly. I fight to keep up. Your words on the bigger picture ring true to me
Are you just theory? Or do you do experimental? I'm a life scientist, and while AI is creeping into my everyday life, it can't really test any of its models without me, and I suspect physicists will always be needed to build, operate, and run things like CERN and every other small scale experimental lab... I'm no supporter of the technology, but I'm also convinced it's fundamentally limited as long as it remains a software based architecture, the quality of life and consciousness, and therefore true agency seems to require substrate privileges (being a manifest entity that can grow, change, replicate etc ... Also my favorite Expanse reference for those who've read the books)
Your invocation of Romulan ale elated me
I'm glad the Second Renaissance is being acknowledged as the (hopefully not) prophetic document I have always thought it is. One ironic thing I've thought a lot in recent months is, for everything The Matrix remarkably got right, there is one thing it gets wrong. This is when Morpheus says "Mankind was united in celebration as we gave birth to AI." I don't see much uniting of anything; we are birthing a potentially world changing technology into the most divisive and vitriolic society that has existed in decades, and as such is incapable of dealing with any major issue, especially the advent of artificial intelligence.
Yeah that's probably the one line in the movie that stands out now as note QUITE right lol
despite your best efforts, you did not hide how stoked you were to use the word 'sesquipedalian'
Been waiting so many years