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PEOPLE & ARTS Wednesday 17 May 2017
Killer artificial intelligence returns in ‘Alien: Covenant’

SANDY COHEN an imminent, or eventual, what purpose? pression of the mad profes- that’s where you get prob-
AP Entertainment Writer reality. “Whoever the inventor is, sor who makes a mistake lems.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mod- “I’m completely fearless of he’s going to want to go in going too far where the “But we will definitely go
ern movie culture would there.... Because what it’s
have you believe artificial leading to is the question
intelligence is out to kill us of creation.
all. And creation, I don’t care
In “2001: A Space Odys- who you are, is on every-
sey,” Hal, the AI computer one’s mind.”
aboard a space flight to Tyson is also fascinated
Jupiter, develops a mind with creation. His latest
of its own and turns against book, “Astrophysics for
the crew. People in a Hurry,” is about
“The Terminator” makes his the birth of the universe
mission clear in the movie’s and carbon-based life.
title. Ava, the pretty-faced Androids, though, “are just
android in “Ex Machina,” completely pointless,” he
has a killer instinct. David, said.
the pretty-faced android in And they couldn’t be-
“Prometheus,” also doesn’t come self-aware without
have the best intentions for consciousness, something
human survival. scientists have yet to fully
“Prometheus” director Rid- grasp.
ley Scott, who further ex- “You’re saying we’re going
plores the cunning side of to end up programming
artificial intelligence in his this into a machine and
new “Alien: Covenant,” then it’s going to decide
says, “If you’re going to use we shouldn’t exist, when
something that’s smarter we don’t even understand
than you are, that’s when This image released by Twentieth Century Fox shows Michael Fassbender who portrays android our own consciousness? I
it starts to get dangerous.” David in a scene from “Alien: Covenant.” Filmmakers have long projected that artificial intelli- just don’t see it,” he said.
It’s been a running theme gence could spell the end of humanity. Besides, if somehow artifi-
through Scott’s three films Associated Press cially intelligent androids
set in the “Alien” universe, do go rogue, Tyson has a
dating back to the 1979 AI,” Tyson said last week. the whole nine yards,” the alien is way smarter than solution.
original in which Sigourney Tyson noted that human filmmaker said. he is or the monsters are “This is America,” he said. “I
Weaver battles not only an beings have been invent- “Hence you get the ex- way smarter than he is and can shoot the robot.”q
alien killing machine but ing machines to replace
also Ash, an android who human labor since the
views his human crew- days of the Industrial Rev-
mates as expendable. olution, and computers
“Prometheus” in 2012 in- have succeeded in out-
troduced David, an earlier smarting people since be-
android version with a simi- fore Watson beat Ken Jen-
lar lack of scruples about nings at “Jeopardy!”
protecting humanity. In movies, artificially intel-
Filmmakers have long pro- ligent beings might look
jected that artificial intelli- human, but most real-life
gence could spell the end robots don’t, he said.
of humanity, and some top The robots welding parts
scientists and tech lead- on automobile assembly
ers — including Stephen lines look like machines,
Hawking and Elon Musk — not mechanics.
share their concern. “The first thing we think of
Musk, an early investor when we have a machine
in the development of that has capacity is not to
AI, told Vanity Fair earlier put it into something that
this year that he worries looks human,” Tyson said.
the technology could ul- “Because the human form
timately “produce some- is not very good at any-
thing evil by accident,” thing, so why have it look
such as “a fleet of artificial human?”
intelligence-enhanced ro- An exception would be
bots capable of destroying “sex robots,” he said, add-
mankind.” ing rhetorically, “Is this ro-
But astrophysicist, author bot going to take over the
and film fan Neil deGrasse world?”
Tyson said he believes For Scott, the possibility of
there’s nothing to worry evil artificial intelligence
about. Killer androids may comes back to the ques-
make for fun film fodder, tion of the creator: Who is
but he doesn’t think they’re doing the creating, and for