Pop culture has always been the significant reflection of the human condition. It is the medium through which manifestation of the fear and desires of society could come alive. Science-fiction, one of the greatest forces of popular culture, have always been critical towards technological progress and forged dominant representation of dystopian futures ruled by technology. Since the romantic era, prominent poets and authors such as William blake and Mary Shelly have extensively criticised technology for the numerous ills it brings upon the world. Today, we have eminent directors such as Steven Spielberg and influential writers like Philip K. Dick and Isaac Asimov doing the same thing.
The film and literature in this section prophesizes bleak yet convincing future where human are dominated by technology, leading us to ponder if our world is headed that way. Is technology simply a tool for us or will it master us, plunging us into that grim abyss of technocracy.
On the other hand, the advent of the internet has also led cyberspace to be considered a major part of mainstream culture. With burgeoning online communities such as Facebook and MySpace, it is evident that people are beginning to have a second life in the virtual world. Reports of internet addiction are on the rise and suddenly, the isolation brought by the virtual-reality machines in Minority report no longer seem that distant.
The comprehensive analysis of our meticulously selected literature and films are purely original and substantiated with many parallels in the real world to ensure it stays globally relevant. However, since art is meant to be interpreted freely, our analysis and evaluation may contain some biased views.
- Data surveillance
- Human or machines?
- Part 1
- Part 2
- Part 3
- Human and animal experimentation
Athlete Oscar Pistorius, known as the fastest man with artificial limbs, is also nicknamed the Blade Runner.
British Ministry of Defense have named their military satellites “Skynet”, which is in control of 4 unmanned Killer Vehicles (MQ-9 Reaper). Talk about daring the robots to destroy us all.
Long before robots were introduced to humans, Mary Shelly has already postulated the presence of the uncanny valley with Frankenstein’s monster.
Programmers are taking into account that AI is far superior compared to human intelligence in the aspect of chess, and work on handicaps such as giving the AI less time to think, or removing a piece from the computer.
Deep Thought became the first Artificial Intelligence program that managed to beat a grandmaster of chess in a tournament when it defeated Bent Larson in 1989