The scientific masterpiece, Ex Machina, makes humans question artificial intelligence and its place in society.
"If you've created a conscious machine, it's not the history of man. That's the history of gods." ~ Domhnall Gleeson (Caleb)
In a far-off laboratory hidden in the forest, the employer Nathan (Oscar Issac) hires Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) to work for him and perform a Turing test. Which is a test for intelligence in a computer, requiring that a human being should be unable to distinguish the machine from another human being by using the replies to questions put to both. When Caleb figures out what Nathan is doing with artificial intelligence he explains that if you have created a conscious machine this is not the creation of men but a creation of Gods. When put to the test Caleb finds himself more intrigued with Ava (Alicia Vikander) wanting to know more and more.
Directed by Alex Garland, this musical is not short of firepower. Garland’s leadership in the movie, Ex Machina, has gained him numerous nominations and awards. Including Winner of the British Independent Flim Award, Nominee for Best Writing and Original Screenplay, Nominee for Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Flims along many others. The trio of Nathan, Caleb, and Ava are portrayed by solid actors who give the audience a show to remember. Oscar Issac (Nathan) has won a Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series, ALMA nominee Favorite Movie Actor, Winner of Best Supporting from the Australian Flim along with other nominees. Domhnall Gleeson (Caleb) has been nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Irish Flim and Television Awards, nominee for Best Breakthrough Performance in a Flim from the National Flim Awards, along with Best Lead Actor from Irish Flim and Television. Alicia Vikander (Ava) is the winner for Best Breakthrough Performance from Alliance of Women Flim Journalists, nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in Supporting Role in a Motion Picture from the Golden Globes, and Winner of the Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role by the Academy Awards.
The beginning of this movie does a great job at bringing the viewer in with amazing colors and an easy to grasp story on how all the main characters come to be at this multi million dollar research facility. This film takes place on the property of Nathan the owner, and inventor of the largest tech company in the world. Caleb believes he has won a contest to go to his boss’s home. He is to test an AI created by Nathan named Ava through a Turing test to determine if Ava has reached human level of consciousness. Nathan‘s immorality is shown throughout the entire film in regards to his god-like control over Ava.. This can be seen as Caleb speaks to Ava and she tells him that she has never been outside or seen anything more than the room she is locked in. This small thing allows us to see that Nathan wants to feel a sense of control over all aspects of Ava‘s experience and existence even though he continues to speak on how she is her own “person“.
Nathan playing God is enhanced through the creation of Ava. Ava being AI “could be a gray box with no gender or sexuality,” says Caleb. Yet in a conversation between Caleb and Nathan, Nathan sexualizes Ava and brags about how he has created her with gender and the ability to feel sexual stimulation even though this is completely unnecessary in AI. Later on in the film we find out that Nathan‘s assistant is an early attempt at AI but now has the sole purpose of pleasuring Nathan. This just shows that even though he claims Ava to be conscious he also sees her as an object for pleasure. The mimic of sexuality is just another way we can see Nathan trying to copy God‘s creation in his own.
Sentience is the major question Caleb is trying to find the answer to. This film is broken into seven sessions with title cards edited in to show you the passing of a day. From one session to the next there is a sense of building tension as the session numbers increase it feels like a countdown to the movie's climax. In the first session Caleb is shocked by her level of intelligence and perfectly human-like facial expressions. Caleb tells Nathan that he is astonished by her ability to hold conversations but just because you talk like a human and look like one does not mean you are one. He still feels more testing needs to be done. After one of Caleb's sessions with Ava, Nathan asks him how he feels about her. He has to think hard about this question and that itself shows that the test may be working and her humanity is truly in question. During the third session Ava asks Caleb to close his eyes. He does so and she then comes back in a dress and talks to Caleb about how she wants to go on a date with him. This scene is one of the first major instances in which Caleb questions Avas sentence showing the audience that she has what feels like a human-like capability to have a crush on Caleb. Ultimately this leads to a later conversation between Nathan and Caleb we’re Nathan speaks about Ava as his child and subordinates furthering the argument that Nathan feels control over Ava. But her true sentence can be seen after their fourth interaction where Ava begins to not answer Caleb's questions but turn the tables and asks questions to Caleb. Saying how you would feel if passing or failing a test determined if you lived or died. Showing that she values her own life and understands the complexities of it being taken away from her if she fails. And after this Caleb is all but 100% sold on her being a sentient being which is the beginning of the end.
When trying to make a movie that goes in-depth about science and artificial intelligence many things can go awry, causing the audience to not know the terminology or follow what is going on. The main problem that I found with the movie was with the Turing test. When Caleb brings the notion to Nathan about how he knows that Ava is a machine as opposed to not knowing at all he brushes him off saying that the studies in the past the point to not needing to do that. Thus, making the test flawed since he has prior knowledge about Ava making the test skewed.
Through Ex Machina, we are able to imagine the evolution of artificial intelligence in the world that is similar to our own. As the tension and anticipation builds throughout the scenes of this movie leave you on the edge your seat. The relationship that Caleb and Ava have developed throughout the movie causes us to wonder what more will happen with this relationship in the future causing it to fall.