AI goes under the microscope

Machine (M, 85 mins) Directed by Justin Krook Reviewed by James Croot ★★★1⁄2

As Justin Krook’s engaging, even-handed and erudite documentary tells us, most of our knowledge and fears about artificial intelligence have been heavily influenced by science-fiction and pop culture.

Books, movies and television shows like I, Robot, The Matrix, The Terminator, Westworld, Humans and Ex Machina have repeatedly warned us of the dangers of sentient digital beings.

But while opening with the distressing sight of 18-time world Go champion Lee Sedol floundering against Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo in a 2016 challenge match broadcast around the globe, this very much aims to temper concerns and separate the fact from the fiction.

‘‘It was 200 engineers versus a guy with a cup of coffee,’’ one commentator pithily describes how much the match was stacked against Sedol.

Gathering together those on the cutting edge of theory and practical design from America, Europe and Asia, Krook (whose last doco, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, looked at DJ Steve Aoki) aims to assure us that while stunning advances are constantly being made, we are still some way off creating machines that are truly intelligent.

‘‘What can robots do well today? Wander around and clean up the floor,’’ muses one observer.

Fans of films like Cherry 2000, Blade Runner and Her will delight in some of the topics covered here, while the ever-increasing debate over the rise of self-driving vehicles is well fleshed and thrashed out, including the suggestion that, one day, humans might be banned from driving in certain areas.

Deep fakes and Facebook’s algorithms are explained, the case for and against autonomous warfare is presented and there’s a timely look at how virtual holidays might work.

Animated sequences break up the procession of talking heads, although most of those are wellchosen anyway, offering up witty and intelligent observations like: ‘‘If we’re going to build things, we’ve got to instil them with our values. Yes, that means, if they take over, it’s going to be horrible, but that is the truth with raising kids, too.’’ If you take anything away from Machine, it should be that empathy is what will save the world and that the future should be the product of the decisions we are making today.

Machine is now screening in select cinemas.