chappieproject-blog

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In recent years, there has, and continues to be, a cultural shift focused on robotics and artificial intelligence. Society is pondering what the world will look like in the near future with robotics advancing at such a rapid pace. There have already been several amazing inventions and developments like: IBM’s Watson that just outsmarted Ken Jennings on Jeopardy, Honda’s Asimo that can walk and talk, and Tesla’s (and other brand’s) self-driving cars, all released before Chappie in 2015.  Artificial intelligence is a topic of concern for some of America’s most well-known intellectuals.  Elon Musk had this to say about A.I., “I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it’s probably that” (Gibbs, 2014).  Stephen Hawking warned that, “the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race” (Posel, 2015). The conversation on artificial intelligence has also been widely reported on by various newspapers.  A 2013 article from the New York Times titled The Rapid Advance of Artificial Technology summarized ways that technological advancements could change our lives in the near future.  A New Yorker article by Gary Marcus claimed, “Still, at some level, the only real difference between enthusiasts and skeptics is a time frame” (Marcus, 2013).  An article in Live Science asked many experts in computer science about their thoughts on A.I and reported, “Some even think the singularity — the point at which artificial intelligence can match, and then overtake, human smarts — might happen in just 16 years” (Ghose, 2013).  It is clear that society is worried about the future of artificial technology and curious to see what the future will be like with that technology.

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Chappie is set during the introduction of a robotic police force to crime-ridden South Africa in the near future.  Tetravaal, a robotics company, manufactures and sells the weaponized robots to the South African government.  The chief designer, Deon Wilson, who has successfully developed a program for artificial intelligence, steals a decommissioned robot to test his program on.  While on his way home with the stolen robot, Deon is capture by three gangsters.  The gangsters force Deon to activate the robot with his artificial intelligence program so that they can use it to commit crimes.  The robot, Chappie is simultaneously taught very different morals and values from both Deon and the gangsters.  Chappie made a promise with Deon to never commit any crimes but was tricked by the gangsters into helping them steal cars and money.  During their crime spree, Chappie learns about his dying battery and that it cannot be replaced, meaning he will die.  After a vicious fight against a power-crazed Tetravaal worker’s robot, Deon is injured and Yolandi (female gangster) is killed.  Chappie and Deon race to the lab to transfer Deon’s consciousness into a robot at the lab, but unfortunately there is only one robot. Chappie tells Deon that he is going to transfer Deon’s body to the robot, not his own.  Deon’s consciousness is transferred to the robot body, and then he realizes they can access another robot remotely.  Deon transfers Chappie’s consciousness to the new robot body and runs to find him.  Deon finds Chappie and they run off together.  The ending scene shows them hacking the Tetravaal system to make another robot, the robot has the body of a female.  They transferred Yoland’s consciousness to the new robot, thus giving her new life.

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Analysis of Chappie and A.I.

Chappie offers an alternative view to what artificial technology will look like in the future.  Instead of focusing on a sentient robot that turns evil, Chappie follows the development of a robot who seem to go through different human stages of development. The gangsters Yolandi and Ninja are referred to as Mommy and Daddy, which is an attempt to portray Chappie as their son.  He (Chappie) has a childlike stage where he learns new words and points to things, a teenage stage where he expresses himself and goes a little crazy stealing cars with Ninja, and an adult stage when he commits a selfless act to save Deon and accept his own death.  These are very human-like emotional developments. Chappie exhibits benevolent human morality when faced with his fear of death.  Rather than taking the new robot body for himself, and thus reaffirming what experts predict could happen if artificial intelligence is created, Chappie puts Deon’s life ahead of his own.  The hero in the movie is without a doubt, Chappie himself.  He is the one to defeat The Moose robot that is trying to kill him and his friends.  By positioning Chappie as the hero, the film makers are asking the audience to put their faith in a machine.  This is the complete opposite of what experts have been predicting and warning about artificial technology.  Chappie challenges the cultural zeitgeist that the machines will inherently become evil and offers a counter perspective that artificially intelligent robots can act selflessly for the benefit of others.  Society is forced to engage in the participatory culture of artificial intelligence.  Movies of the past like The Terminator have depicted robots becoming evil and trying to eliminate humanity. There is an interesting dynamic for popular culture to explore when comparing Chappie to movies like The Terminator.  By asking society to trust the impending creation of artificial intelligence, Chappie is supporting the technological revolution that we are currently in the process of.

           The other interesting idea that Chappie plants in the mind of the audience is what does it mean to be human?  Deon’s consciousness was transferred to a robot body, is he still human? What is the difference between Deon’s and Chappie’s consciousness?  If Deon is considered a human in a robotic body, is Chappie too?  Society will also have to decide whether it is acceptable to transfer a human’s consciousness to a robot body after their death.  Yolandi’s consciousness was saved on a thumb drive as a test for Chappie’s mind transfer technology trial.  It was then used to bring her back to life in a robotic body. Chappie successfully brings up important questions regarding immortality that we may have to debate in the near future.

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References

Ghose, T. (2013, May 7). Intelligent Robots Will Overtake Humans by 2100, Experts Say. Live Science. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/29379-intelligent-robots-will-overtake-humans.html

Gibbs, S. (2014, October 27). Elon Musk: artificial intelligence is our biggest existential  threat. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/27/elon-musk-artificial-intelligence-ai-biggest-existential-threat

Marcus, G. (2013, October 24). Why we should think about the threat of artificial intelligence. New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/why-we-should-think-about-the-threat-of-artificial-intelligence

Posel, S. (2015, January). Bill Gates Warns Humanity About AI, but Invests in It Anyway. Investigative Headline News. Retrieved from https://www.occupycorporatism.com/bill-gates-warns-humanity-ai-invests-anyway/

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