SXSW Q&A with Cast and Crew of 'Ex Machina' Page #4

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like Star Trek, okay?

Engage intellect.

Excuse me?

I'm Kirk. Your head's

the warp drive.

Engage intellect.

What if Pollock had

reversed the challenge?

What if instead of making art

without thinking,

he said, "You know what?

"I can't paint anything,

"unless I know exactly

why I'm doing it."

What would have happened?

He never would have

made a single mark.

Yes!

You see, there's my guy, there's my buddy,

who thinks before

he opens his mouth.

He never would have

made a single mark.

The challenge is

not to act automatically.

It's to find an action

that is not automatic.

From painting,

to breathing, to talking,

to f***ing.

To falling in love.

And for the record,

Ava's not pretending to like you.

And her flirting isn't an

algorithm to fake you out.

You're the first man

she's met that isn't me.

And I'm like her dad, right?

Can you blame her

for getting a crush on you?

No, you can't.

When I was in college,

I did a semester on AI theory.

There was a thought

experiment they gave us.

It's called

"Mary in the Black and White Room."

Mary is a scientist,

and her specialist

subject is color.

She knows everything

there is to know about it.

The wavelengths.

The neurological effects.

Every possible property

that color can have.

But she lives in

a black and white room.

She was born there

and raised there.

And she can only observe

the outside world

on a black and white monitor.

And then one day

someone opens the door.

And Mary walks out.

And she sees a blue sky.

And at that moment,

she learns something

that all her studies

couldn't tell her.

She learns what it feels

like to see color.

The thought experiment

was to show the students

the difference between a

computer and a human mind.

The computer is Mary in

the black and white room.

The human is when she walks out.

Did you know that I was

brought here to test you?

No.

Why did you think I was here?

I didn't know.

I didn't question it.

I'm here to test if you

have a consciousness,

or if you're

just simulating one.

Nathan isn't sure

if you have one or not.

How does that make you feel?

It makes me feel sad.

Power cut.

Back-up power activated.

Why did you tell me

I shouldn't trust Nathan?

Because he tells lies.

Lies about what?

Everything.

Including the power cuts?

What do you mean?

Don't you think it's possible

that he's watching us?

Right now?

That the blackouts

are orchestrated,

so he can see how we behave

when we think we're unobserved.

I charge my batteries

via induction plates.

If I reverse the power flow,

it overloads the system.

You're causing the cuts?

So we can see how we behave

when we're unobserved.

Not bad, huh?

Yeah.

Can we talk about the lies

you've been spinning me?

What lies?

I didn't win a competition.

I wasn't

part of a lottery.

I was selected.

It's obvious,

once I stop to think.

Why would you randomly

select an examiner

for the Turing Test?

You could have had some bean

counter turn up at your front door.

The guy who fixes

the air-conditioning.

The competition

was a smokescreen.

I didn't want anyone to

know what I was doing here,

or why I required you.

Why me?

I needed someone that would

ask the right questions.

So I did a search

and I found the most

talented coder in my company.

You know,

instead of seeing this as a deception,

you should see it as proof.

Proof of what?

Come on, Caleb.

You don't think I know what

it's like to be smart?

Smarter than everyone else.

Jockeying for position.

You got the light on you, man.

Not lucky. Chosen.

Kyoko.

Kyoko.

Where's Nathan?

Where's Nathan?

Jesus Christ. You really don't

speak a word of English?

What the f***?

No, no, no. No!

Stop!

No, no, don't do that. Don't do that.

You don't have to do that.

What are you doing?

I told you,

you're wasting your time talking to her.

However, you would not

be wasting your time,

if you were dancing with her.

Go ahead, dance with her.

Dance with her.

No? You don't like dancing?

She does.

Come on, buddy.

After a long day of Turing Tests,

you gotta unwind.

What were you doing with Ava?

What?

You tore up her picture.

I'm gonna tear up the f***ing dance floor,

dude.

Check it out.

Come on, Caleb.

Ah.

Oh! Everything's spinning.

It's because you're drunk.

No, it's called relativity.

Everything is spinning.

It's just being drunk

makes it worse.

I'm not going in there.

Lights.

Today, I'm going to test you.

Test me?

And please remember,

while you're taking the test,

that if you lie,

I will know.

Oh. Right.

Question one.

What's your favorite color?

Red.

Lie.

Lie?

Yes. Lie.

Then...

Then what is my favorite color?

I don't know.

But it isn't red.

Okay, I get it. I guess,

seeing as I'm not six,

I don't really have a favorite color.

Better answer.

Question two.

What's your earliest memory?

Well, actually,

it's a memory of kindergarten.

There was a kid...

Lie.

Really?

Yes.

Um...

All right. So there is

a kind of an earlier memory.

It's just a sound.

And sky.

Or maybe blue.

I think the sound

is my mother's voice.

Question three.

Are you a good person?

Oh.

Holy sh*t.

Look, can we stop the test?

You're a walking lie detector,

and I just realized

this is a f***ing minefield.

No! We can't stop.

Are you a good person?

Yeah. I think so.

Question four.

What will happen to me

if I fail your test?

Ava...

Will it be bad?

I don't know.

Do you think

I might be switched off,

because I don't function

as well as I'm supposed to?

Ava,

I don't know the answer to your question.

It's not up to me.

Why is it up to anyone?

Do you have people who test

you and might switch you off?

No, I don't.

Then why do I?

Power cut.

Backup power activated.

I wanna be with you.

Question five.

Do you want to be with me?

Why did you make Ava?

That's an odd question.

Wouldn't you, if you could?

Maybe.

I don't know.

I'm asking why you did it.

Look, the arrival of strong

artificial intelligence

has been inevitable for decades.

The variable was

"when," not "if."

So I don't see Ava as a decision,

just an evolution.

I think it's the next model

that's gonna be

the real breakthrough.

The singularity.

Next model?

After Ava.

I didn't know there was

gonna be a model after Ava.

Yeah, why? You thought

she was a one-off?

No, I knew there must have been prototypes.

So I...

I knew she wasn't the first,

but I thought maybe the last.

Well, Ava doesn't exist in

isolation any more than you or me.

She's part of a continuum.

So Version 9.6 and so on.

And each time they get

a little bit better.

When you make a new model,

what do you do with the old one?

Well, I, uh,

download the mind,

unpack the data.

Add in the new routines

I've been writing.

And to do that you end up partially

formatting, so the memories go.

But the body survives.

And Ava's body is a good one.

You feel bad for Ava?

Feel bad for yourself, man.

One day the AIs

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