AI has infested virtually every corner of modern society. If it’s not people claiming that AI is essential to your job security, it’s AI that is actively replacing you in your job. And then there’s all the damage caused by AI data centers. The funny thing is that a movie from the 60s predicted it. Type of.
“2001: A Space Odyssey” is widely considered must-watch for all movie fans, whether they are fans of science fiction or not. It’s considered a visual masterpiece that still holds up today, but even the visuals pale in comparison to the film’s main antagonist: HAL 9000. While other films would feature an alien or human suffering from space madness or acting on the orders of a rogue nation as the villain, “2001: A Space Odyssey” places an AI in that role. HAL tries to kill the astronauts because he thinks they pose a threat to the mission and to herself. Ironically, from one perspective, the AI might be right.
HAL 9000 is arguably the most famous AI in all works of fiction. Sure, Skynet from “Terminator” and AM from “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” are more monstrous because of the mass extinctions they cause, but HAL 9000 doesn’t do what he does out of malice. Furthermore, HAL is not asked to deprioritize human life. In “Alien”, the android Ash receives explicit orders to sacrifice the crew if necessary, but HAL 9000 receives no such orders; we come to the conclusion that human life alone is an obstacle.
Remove fiction from science fiction
While “2001: A Space Odyssey” envisioned a future in which people could regularly visit space stations aboard commercial shuttles, humanity has yet to do that. What the film did was predict the power AI would have over humans with frightening accuracy. While many people associate contemporary AI models with image generators that plagiarized so many sources that they began copying each other (which has been colorfully described as AI inbreeding), some AIs have begun to act like HAL 9000.
Granted, these models haven’t killed people yet, but according to studies, the most advanced AIs are willing to resort to blackmail if, as Fortune puts it, “their goals or existence are threatened.” These usually boil down to blowing the lid off acts of infidelity, a very HAL 9000 approach to survival. Remember, like HAL 9000, AI has more and more power over humans. People are using AI as therapists, asking AI to analyze job applicants’ resumes, and have even consulted AI for legal advice on cheating game developers out of a cash bonus, according to The Guardian.
In 2018, The Guardian interviewed several filmmakers about the legacy of “2001: A Space Odyssey,” and John Gaeta, the visual effects supervisor of “The Matrix,” focused on HAL 9000. He said that HAL is “the first massive understanding that artificial intelligence could exist” and that “the film is completely contemporary in its idea that AI could destroy us.” In the sense that AI will replace humans for important decisions, of course. Geta believes the film predicted the future, but was only off by two decades.
