Chappie (Spoilers)

[Balrog]

So after seeing the film on Friday I've had a chance to think about this movie, and while it's not bad I wouldn't call it that good. It's about on par with Elysium, good concept but just poor execution.

The best part of the movie is the robot itself and watching as he learns how to be a real boy from those around him, which most of the time are the inept gang members who stole him. Special effects were also for the most part excellent. The plot though had a number of contrivances which just made me shake my head, especially the ending with the whole consciousness transfer business, and it seemed clear Sigourney and Hugh were just phoning in their performances.

What was inadvertently funny was how Hugh's character can't seem to wrap his head around the idea he works for a company making police robots, not war robots, and that no non-warzone police force would reasonably need his mini-Metal Gear to shoot down aircraft or fire cluster missiles at gangbangers.

[biostem]

I haven't seen the movie yet, but what stuck out to me about the concept is that, if a person already has a working AI, then does that imply that AIs are already in place in other computer systems? Is it just the combination of the AI in the humanoid robot body that extraordinary/unique in this setting? I mean, the creator of said AI must have written it on some *other* computer, and at least tested it there or proven his concept, right? And if that is the case, was said AI deleted off of that computer when it was transferred to the robot body? I mean, I know I'm going off on a tangent here, but do movie writers know that software can be copied?

[Balrog]

I haven't seen the movie yet, but what stuck out to me about the concept is that, if a person already has a working AI, then does that imply that AIs are already in place in other computer systems? Is it just the combination of the AI in the humanoid robot body that extraordinary/unique in this setting? I mean, the creator of said AI must have written it on some *other* computer, and at least tested it there or proven his concept, right? And if that is the case, was said AI deleted off of that computer when it was transferred to the robot body? I mean, I know I'm going off on a tangent here, but do movie writers know that software can be copied?

The AI's creator Deon did write the program on another computer, and his home had a number of robots which did interact with him in a personal way, but it was implied this was the first true AI. And he decided to load his AI into a police bot destined to be scrapped because it took irreparable damage to its battery because, uh, reasons.

He also made a big deal about being unable to transfer Chappie' consciousness to another police bot body, until Chappie went ahead and not only found a way to transfer his but human consciousness into robot bodies. And thus the singularity began.

[Starglider]

Most authors have a deep dislike of the ability to losslessly copy AI and invent an endless number of bogus rationalisations for why it can't be done.I suspect it threatens the human intuitive conceit of indivisible unique platonic individuals, which most people defend ferociously despite it being patently false (in the light of split brain patient experiments never mind anything more modern).

[Zaune]

What was inadvertently funny was how Hugh's character can't seem to wrap his head around the idea he works for a company making police robots, not war robots, and that no non-warzone police force would reasonably need his mini-Metal Gear to shoot down aircraft or fire cluster missiles at gangbangers.

Considering that guy threatened his colleague at gunpoint and tried to write it off as a prank about half an houre in and went on to do even more fucked-up shit from there, I suspect he might have been intentionally written as having some sort of personality disorder.

Which suggests that Transvaal's HR are apparently slacking off in the break-room with whoever's supposed to be in charge of security. How the fuck did the software genius guy whose name I forget just walk out of there with an admittedly thoroughly wrecked robot and the vitally important security dongle, and why does he have keycard access to a room full of light anti-armour weapons?

[andrewgpaul]

And he decided to load his AI into a police bot destined to be scrapped because it took irreparable damage to its battery because, uh, reasons.

Because the CEO didn't want to waste time and resources on something she thought had nothing to do with the company's actual line of business. I don't think Deon deliberately wanted to load his AI into a damaged Scout; it's just that that was his only option. And until he actually started interacting with Chappie, I don't think Deon really thought he'd created a living, sapient creature - otherwise, I think, he'd have given the limited lifespan more thought.

Made sense to me, but YMMV.

He also made a big deal about being unable to transfer Chappie' consciousness to another police bot body, until Chappie went ahead and not only found a way to transfer his but human consciousness into robot bodies. And thus the singularity began.

The "research" and "child development" elements of the story were compressed, I thought, but I liked the idea that there wasn't any deep reason why consciousness can't be copied - just that Deon hadn't figured it out.

I also liked the straightforward filenames; Of course Chappie's consciousness will be in a file called

Code: Select all

chappie_counsciousness.dat

Finally, Spoiler

I like the mental image of Prawn!Wikus and robot!Deon sitting in a Johannesburg shanty comparing notes "well, nobody ever mentioned this in an appraisal meeting!"

[Zaune]

And did anybody else notice that the world's first fully sentient AI was apparently developed on Linux?

[Balrog]

Because the CEO didn't want to waste time and resources on something she thought had nothing to do with the company's actual line of business. I don't think Deon deliberately wanted to load his AI into a damaged Scout; it's just that that was his only option. And until he actually started interacting with Chappie, I don't think Deon really thought he'd created a living, sapient creature - otherwise, I think, he'd have given the limited lifespan more thought.

Made sense to me, but YMMV.

See, the guy had a whole bunch of robots putzing around his house doing simple household chores, even if he couldn't take one of them and upload the AI into them, he could certainly build himself a robot. Which begs the question why specifically he wanted a robot rather than run the program through a regular computer.

But the problem is one you pointed out - he didn't think. Sure his boss shot down the idea right then and there, but it's not like he was operating on a timetable, "you must get AI loaded into robot now or bad thing happens." For someone who is suppose to be quite smart and put presumably so much effort into making an AI I found it hard to believe he would do something so reckless.

[Starglider]

Hollywood loves super-prototype intelligent robots, preferably humanoid and/or military. In reality though, even research teams that work with robots spend most of their time developing the software on normal computers, with recorded or simulated data. Robots are just more hassle and expense to work with. In the 80s and 90s researchers who liked soldering and mechano used to harp on about the 'embodiment manifesto' (amongst other terms for it), saying that bodies were necessary for real AI and thus you can't cut my grant funding. You don't hear this much now, both because simulated worlds are so much more realistic and because the robotics fans have plenty of near-term commercial applications to justify their grant proposals.