Milestone # 3

Aaron Straker                                                                                                                                                       Straker 1

10/22/2012

Research Paper

            

            Alien is a movie about a crew in space.  They get a signal from a planet and go to check it out.  One of the crew members is attacked by a life form that attaches itself to the crew members face.  Ripley another crew member doesn’t want to let them back on the ship, because of the risk of infections.  Ripley is actually in charge at the moment due to the circumstances.  Another crew member Ash ignores the orders of Ripley and opens the door thus starting the movie.  Also ignoring Ripley’s authority at the moment.  In Alien the audience is unaware that Ash is a robot until later in the film.  Here is an example of the mystery of Ash in Alien “The cast includes Charlize Theron as a deep-pocketed corporate heavy from a company whose name may ring bells for Alien aficionados, Michael Fassbender as the crew's resident is-he-or-isn't-he-an-android (cue comparisons to Ian Holm's Ash)” (Nashawaty)

            Prometheus is a movie about a crew in space trying to find their creators.  They think the people who created humans are engineers on a certain planet.  In this movie the audience knows David is a robot.  There isn’t a big reveal like with Alien and the character Ash.  They eventually find the planet and begin their work but it seems like David has a hidden agenda and seems to be working against certain crew members.  Here is an example of David’s character “You must feel like your God left you, he mocks her, showing a very human sadistic streak. (Doherty)

            2001: A Space Odyssey is about a crew in space on a mission.  They have a robot named HAL 9000 helping them.  HAL 9000 is a robot but you only hear his voice.  He isn’t like David or Ash who actually have bodies.  While they are in space HAL 9000 starts to act a bit differently and that’s when the movie really starts.  This article gives an example of HAL 9000 “You almost feel sad when that last flicker of red light goes out of HAL's "eye" near the ending of Stanley Kubrick's operatic space adventure, but the computer with the relaxing voice is a cruel killing machine when threatened. More human than the astronauts, HAL brags a terrifying combo of dueling logical and emotional tendencies. -- Jeff Labrecque” (Dalton)

                Here is a web publication that makes a connection between David from Prometheus and HAL 9000 from 2001 A Space Odyssey.  The article uses the actors name instead of David “Fassbender is perfection as a super-intelligent, slightly prideful android -- he could possibly be a faraway relative to the HAL 9000 in "2001: A Space Odyssey"(Grierson)  Another important role in these robots and film is Artificial Intelligence.  This plays an important role in many films with robots.  “Artificial Intelligence is a computer of robot whose processing ability is capable, swift and complex enough to copy the intelligence of human beings.”(DeNardo)  This is shown in 2001 A Space Odyssey where HAL 9000 plays a crew member in chess.  But there’s another interesting part for Artificial Intelligence in movies “Many science-fiction stories portray AI beings that not only exhibits human intelligence, but surpass it, often making it a threat to human existence.”  (DeNardo)  This is also how HAL 9000 was able to defeat the crew member in the chess game, leaving the crew member even surprised because he didn’t even realize that he had lost the game.  From all three movies the characters Ash, David and HAL 9000 were a threat to the humans.

Judging from the evidence in 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick, Alien/Prometheus by Ridley Scott and several other scholarly sources, the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology may be fraught with danger.  Based on the actions from the characters Ash-Alien, David-Prometheus and HAL-2001: A Space Odyssey.  These films dramatize the struggle between humans and intelligent machines and challenges the view that we can peacefully co-exist.

Works Cited

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Ross, Collis, Vary, Orvino, Labrecque, Dalton, Rachel, Jeff, Clark, Adam B. "BADASS SPACE VILLAINS.." Article .1207 (n.d.): 8-8. EBSCOhost Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 October 2012.

This is an article rating the top 5 space villains.  It was made before the release of the movie Avengers, the space villain in that movie is Loki.  This article just wanted to go back and honor some space villains from the past.  HAL 9000 got number three on this list, showing this robot has certainly stood the test of time.

Doherty, Thomas. " Prometheus. ." Entertainment Review 37. 4 (n.d.): 53-55. EBSCOhost Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 October 2012.

This article reviews Prometheus.  It talks about certain topics in the movie and the characters.  Also brings up other movies such as Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey.  It also compares Dr. Shaw to Vickers.  Dr. Shaw is a sensitive person while Vickers is cold hearted.  Most importantly quotes David the robot in the movie while he’s displaying a mean streak.

"." n.d.: n.pag. Web. 24 October 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwBmPiOmEGQ>.

Here is a video from youtube showing an interaction between HAL 9000 and David.  In this scene from 2001 A Space Odyssey HAL 9000 refuses to let David back on the ship.  HAL 9000 doesn’t let David back on the ship because earlier in the film, he figured out David and another crew member were going to kill him.

Grierson, Tim . "Tim Grierson Reviews 'Madagascar 3' and 'Prometheus'." 7 June 2012: . LexisNexis Academic. Web. 3 November 2012.

Here is a newspaper review from LexisNexis.  This article has only a small amount of information about Prometheus.  But in the article they make an interesting connection between David and HAL 9000.  They describe David as super intelligent and maybe even related to HAL 9000.  Which is interesting because both of these movies have a huge time gap.  Prometheus came out this year June 2012 and 2001 A Space Odyssey dates all the way back to 1968.

DeNardo, John . "Demystifying Sci-Fi Terms, Part 2." 21 March 2012: . LexisNexis Academic. Web. 3 November 2012.

This article is to help people understand science fiction movies, by giving definitions to important science fiction terms.  In the article the writer jokingly admits to science fiction being confusing.  HAL 9000 is mentioned in this article with a term called AI which stands for Artificial Intelligence.  Artificial Intelligence is a computer of robot whose processing ability is capable, swift and complex enough to copy the intelligence of human beings.

"." n.d.: n.pag. Web. 3 November 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtGFAfJm45s>.

Here is a video clip from youtube, which is a conversation between the robot David and a crew member.  In this clip it shows David’s artificial intelligence he is a robot but he’s able to hold a conversation with the crew member.  The crew member is being witty with David but David is able to be witty right back showing he’s able to copy human beings.  This also explains how Ash was able to be on the ship in Alien without anyone knowing he was actually a robot.

"Just How Smart are Computers, Anyway?." Website n.d.: n.pag. Web. 7 November 2012. <http://www.credoreference.com.rpa.laguardia.edu:2048/entry/heliconhe/just_how_smart_are_computers_anyway>.

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This is an article from Laguardia Resources Center.  It mentions 2001 A Space Odyssey also weak AI and strong AI.  It also mentions how computers simply follow rules.  Also the goal of making computers think like human beings but also making them smarter and more efficient.  AI computers even having human remarks such as I’m bored let’s talk about something else.

Clarke, Arthur . "2001: A space Odyssey; MGM, 1968--based on a story." n.d.: 37. Web. 7 November 2012. <http://go.galegroup.com.rpa.laguardia.edu:2048/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=cuny_laguardia&tabID=T002&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=6&contentSet=GALE|A183437136&&docId=GALE|A183437136&docType=GALE&role=>.

Here is a file from Laguardia and Wagner Articles.  First it gives you a scenario where you get a device that has AI.  That’ll take care of everything so you can relax all the time.  People will think this is a good idea.  Then the article brings up HAL 9000 from 2001 A Space Odyssey that has AI.  The article then explains how everyone was constantly being watched by HAL.  Taking away the readers sense of security.  Also since HAL went rogue attacking the crew members (turning off pods for crew members in hyper sleep).