Of humans, machines and what lies between them – Part 5

Gary Lockwood controls the space station in a scene from the film '2001: A Space Odyssey', 1968. Image: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty Images 

2001: Space Odyssey (1968) 

If any film could be called the ‘source code’ of films about artificial intelligence (AI), it would be this. Written by Arthur C Clarke and Stanley Kubrick, and directed by the latter, although the plot of 2001: Space Odyssey is relatively uncomplicated, it is a powerhouse of pioneering concepts in cinematography, the sparing use of dialogues, the use of classical music in the background, and of course, costumes and set designs that, almost 60 years later, seem as contemporary as any other film today. The film was not very well received at the time. A section of the audience walked out of the film’s premiere, while others stayed on and jeered at it.

As it happens with ideas and works that are way ahead of their time, more than five decades after the film was released, Kubrick’s work is hailed as a masterpiece. For instance, its slow, monotonous and ponderous pace, which was roundly panned at that time, was later hailed as an ingenious method to effectively show how dull and lonely space travel can actually be. But what 2001… most stunningly depicted was the use and potential of artificial intelligence.

HAL 9000 is an AI system that operates every aspect of the Discovery One spacecraft, on which astronauts Dave Bowman and Frank Poole are headed to Jupiter. HAL’s presence is marked only by his human-like voice and large red, glowing light. It is omnipresent and omniscient. And, when the possibility arises that it might need to be shut down because it is not working properly, it turns rogue. It is one of the finest examples of how an ‘intelligent’ system can develop a sense of self-preservation, and prioritise its own existence over that of its creators and operators.

But unlike all the contemporary films in which AI often manifests in physical forms, sometimes human-like in appearance, and goes on a rampage, HAL remains just a voice and a large, red light. The terror it unleashes spreads like slowly, creeping frost over the audience. The sequence in which Dave manages to get hold of a dead Poole, floating away into space, with the robotic arms of the pod he is maneuvering, and is then locked out of the spacecraft by HAL has far more impact than most villains in the history of cinema.

Also read: Of humans, machines and what lies between them Part 4