Men in 'Ex Machina' test
intelligence of drop-dead cyborg
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[March 19, 2015]
By Piya Sinha-Roy
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A
reclusive technology millionaire, a naive young
programmer and a beautiful, artificially intelligent
robot take on a twisted exploration into the age-old
debate of man versus machine in the new film "Ex Machina."
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Out in U.S. theaters on April 10, the film is the work of
first-time director and novelist Alex Garland and three
up-and-coming actors, two of whom - Oscar Isaac and Domhnall
Gleeson - went from "Ex Machina" to the set of the hotly
anticipated "Star Wars" film.
Isaac plays arrogant CEO Nathan, who through a contest, selects
his employee Caleb (Gleeson), to join him in his reclusive
fortress to test an invention - a cyborg with a human face and
artificial intelligence (AI).
The goal is to see if the cyborg Ava, played by Swedish actress
Alicia Vikander, demonstrates evolving intelligence, even if it
is artificial.
"What's most interesting about trying to figure out AI is the
questions that it forces you to ask about the nature of
consciousness," Isaac told Reuters at the South by Southwest
Festival (SXSW) where the film had its premiere.
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As Caleb tries to determine Ava's intelligence, he finds himself
drawn to her as she flirts with him and tells him not to trust
the short-tempered Nathan.
For Gleeson, Garland "does not see the film as being anti-AI, or
as being totally warning against the nature of what AI is."
Rather, it delves into the complexity of man's relationship to
technology.
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Variety called Garland's debut "a sleek, spare chamber piece: Mary
Shelley's 'Frankenstein' redreamed as a 21st-century battle of the
sexes."
Having bonded over what Gleeson said was a "really tough" shoot due
to the characters' heightened tensions, the actors were pleased to
find each other filming Walt Disney's "Star Wars: Episode VII - The
Force Awakens."
"It was really nice...seeing Oscar there because I didn't know who
was going to be there," said Gleeson.
The Star Wars film slated for December is so entrenched in secrecy
that cast members are forbidden to talk about it. But Isaac did say
that co-star and franchise veteran Harrison Ford, who plays Han
Solo, gave him advice on simulating space flight.
"He said 'I didn't really know how to fly back then, I was just
flying around, just faking it, it's in space, you don't really need
to know how to do it,'" Isaac said.
(Editing by Mary Milliken and Andrew Hay)
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