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Hans Conried plays a harried college professor whose wife leaves him alone for the weekend to set up their brand new TV set. Consider Arch Oboler’s oddball 1953 comedy The Twonky, one of the earliest films ever made about television, and one of the strangest this side of Videodrome. Though “screen time” is a relatively modern concept in regard to our relationship with technology, its associated anxieties have been with us for as long as we’ve invited screens into our homes. #Burn book makeup palette freeReaders are sure to have their own contributions and we’d love to hear about as well – feel free to drop them in the comments. ![]() Here is a rundown of a handful of thoughtful or thought-provoking films that are worth rewatching. ![]() Given how rich this particular vein is, this list is more illustrative than exhaustive. What will be lost, what can be preserved, are there ways we can control these changes in the service of a more humane “post-human” future? Or: are we even sure that we are actually human now…? Others present more nuanced, subtle, and blended takes. Some are outright Apocalyptic or dystopian works. #Burn book makeup palette how toHow to mark the current moment, when global forces of labor, creativity, capital, automation, and invention are once again locked in struggle? We’ve decided to collect short reviews from a range of critics exploring films throughout the ages that explore the threats posed by robots and artificial intelligence. foretold of the coming robotic uprising and the eventual extermination of humanity at the hands of our own creation.) (Indeed, the very first use of the word “robot” a hundred years ago - in Karel Čapek’s R.U.R. ![]() From the lessons of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (whether Goethe or Disney) through Luddite anthems and pro-labor protest songs, right down to the modern-day fables of WarGames, The Terminator, Ex Machina, M3GAN, and just about every episode of Battlestar Galactica and Black Mirror, popular media has sounded a steady alarm to warn us of the inherent dangers of powerful automation, whether robotic, AI, or something entirely new. Whether spinning tales on a stage or around a campfire - or through the flickering light of a film projector - writers have warned of the dangers of technology unchecked, hoping to spray some cold water on these sparking Promethean fires before they burn out of control. To their credit, the artists and storytellers of the world have long been among the most vocal critics of the unchecked spread of technology, even before they found themselves confronting automation and replacement. What began as a diversion has become an existential threat. Programs such as DALL-E and Midjourney have ingested the collected art of all of humanity they are now able to churn out endless reels of soulless imagery to feed our demand for custom-made illustration, everything from “a daguerreotype of Abraham Lincoln punching Joseph Stalin” to “pornographic iguana-sex rendered in the style of Pieter Bruegel the Elder.” As for the more text-oriented professions, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, and a host of similar “generative AI” are able to produce reams of seemingly novel text on command, including restaurant (or film) reviews, business plans, academic articles, and even stories, poems, scripts, and screenplays. Yesterday’s fiction is becoming today’s reality, as each week we hear news of yet another generation of AI tools and wizardry being prepared to replace human workers. #Burn book makeup palette driversMost notably, workers who have found themselves and their livelihoods in the headlights of automation’s onrush have resisted with their voices, their sabots, and their very lives - but such resistance has often been dismissed as little more than self-serving Luddism, ignored by others in the name of progress and the greater good.Īnd now, after replacing everyone from farmers and cobblers to taxi drivers and toll collectors, the bots have come for the creative class. But while each new development may lead us closer to a brave new “labor-free” world, not everyone has welcomed these changes. Photo: Wiki Commonįor as long as we’ve had work - which is to say, ever since we left the Garden of Eden - our society’s boldest prophets and inventors (and a few profit-seeking investors) have sought new ways to replace human labor with the effortless ease of technology. A scene from a stage production of Karel Čapek’s R.U.R. ![]()
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