Ex Machina

Ex Machina was a really weird movie. I always felt like the Nathan was going to kill Caleb at the last day of the Turing test. I thought the location where the movie took place was very odd because it was a building in the middle of nowhere. I also thought that a person falling in love with a machine was very strange. The movie was really just about an AI named Ava trying to escape her creator by using the feeling love against humans. Her creator named Nathan Bateman was trying to enhance his AI but upgrading Ava would erase her. In order to upgrade Ava he used a person from his company named Caleb Smith to do a special AI test called the Turing test. Caleb bonded with Ava and fell in love over the week of the testing. I found it interesting that Ava betrayed Caleb at the end when she locked him in the security room and left for the helicopter that was supposed to pick up Caleb at the end of the Turing test. I know that Ava wanted to see the world but she doesn’t really have any place to go. The only place she can stay is the house she was being held in. In the end, this movie portrays the fear of artificial intelligence. In the movie Nathan keeps Ava locked in one room which shows he is afraid of her. Also Nathan is stabbed to death by his AI helper and Ava. Caleb is locked in the security room and will eventually starve to death which in my opinion comes from the idea of artificial intelligence taking over the world.

Transcendence

The movie Transcendence is a crazy movie! I enjoyed the idea of artificial intelligence taking over the world with nanotechnology and healing it. It was also crazy to see one of the main characters, Will played by Johnny Depp have his consciences downloaded into a supercomputer to create an artificial intelligence. The idea of nanotechnology was fascinating! If that technology existed today we could heal the planet, people, get rid of pollution. We could also make any object with nanotechnology even though the materials for the object is not correct. Nanotechnology can do this because it can form into any material needed to create an object. Also nanotechnology could regenerate skin faster than the human body. Also it can regrow limbs. But we would have to find a way to control the nanotechnology without artificial intelligence so it does not take over the world. In the movie the A.I uses the nanotechnology to take over the world and control the humans that have the nanotech inside their bodies. Also the nanotechnology can allow humans to have advanced abilities like super strength and speed. The movie shows this when a construction worker is lifting up solar panels that would take a mini crane to lift up. I like the idea of having nanotechnology but I would not want an A.I controlling it. The movie ends after Will’s wife injects herself with a virus that will kill her artificial intelligent husband when he uploads her to the system. After the A.I dies everything but humans that has nanotechnology inside their bodies dies. The reason why everything died but humans is because everything but humans were dependent on nanotechnology.

Response to Group Four's Questions

The four types of body rhetoric are “embodied argumentation, street theater, rhetorical style and the vibe as bodily emanation” (145, Gandio). Embodied argumentation uses body language to make an argument. People have certain hand movements or position themselves in a confident way during a big protest. Street theatre is a political performance like a protest or rally. Protests and rallies today are used to communicate to the government in order to make certain things legal or illegal. Rhetorical style describes how communicative gestures look to others and the feelings they reveal. For example if I only hold up my first two fingers in an antiwar rally it will look like the peace sign and will reveal my feelings toward war. The vibe is energy that comes off our bodies when promoting or contesting political agendas. The energy given off someone promoting or contesting political agendas could possibly influence the people around them to join. Bodily argumentation is made up of four ways that use embodied argumentation to expand the realm of rhetoric. Embodied argumentation is a call to action that allows people to do what they are saying and resist the government. Embodied argumentation also allows people to understand non-verbal rhetoric. Another embodied argumentation that expands the realm of rhetoric is using body language anywhere to express their views, ideas and political standings. The last embodied argumentation is crafting body communication into a very good argument. The process in order to perfect body language to make an argument takes time and practice. Without these four ways, nobody can be influencing and support their position. The five steps to cultivating style is for a person to observe their own style, observe other people’s style, to reflect on those styles, experiment with different styles, take chances with different stylistic choices and apply them to their style. If someone is able to compare their style to other people’s style then they can experiment with different styles. This allows them to be unique and take risks with different styles of clothing people would not normally wear. An individual body argument is a person using their body to make an argument. People will usually paint their bodies with certain colors and write words on their body to express how they feel. For example my friend wrote Kobe don’t go on his stomach in purple and yellow. He tried to get on the big screen during the Lakers verse Celtics game. A couple of random people yelled at him that Kobe sucks and he yelled back his thoughts. A collective body argument is “protests and actions, which might include: sanctioned rallies, marches, and demonstrations; direct actions; silent die-ins; snake marches; street festivals; both militant and peaceful confrontations; a few people on a street corner or a million people across the globe” (151, Gandio). Usually collective body argument is made up of more than one person attempting to communicate their message to the public.

Response to Group Three's questions

Language is a form of communication from one human being to another. Language is connected to social media through slang and emojis. Of course people talk to each other with English, Spanish, and French over the internet but slang and emojis is the virtual world’s universal language. Certain words, facial expressions and feelings can be expressed through slang such as “lol” which is laugh out loud and an emoji such as “J” expresses my happiness. Unfortunately slang and emojis can be used by social media to influence people. Some news social media pages will use slang to make something seem cool to internet users and influence people to do or say weird things. For example when the ALS ice bucket challenge was introduced, social media hyped it up so much that people who did not even know what ALS was were taking part in the challenge. 

             The five guide lines to language and communication are to be clear, accessible, proactive, respectful and interesting. My generation follows these guidelines very well on the internet. People are able to be clear with what they want to share because of grammar check. Grammar check allows people to check their spelling and grammar before posting a blog, tweet, and comment. Due to smart phones equipped with social media applications, people are always accessible to anything social. Most people in my generation check their social media, emails and texts frequently which makes them proactive. Even though people act tougher when they are behind a computer screen, most people are respectful over the internet. My generation has been continuously interesting because of Instagram. Instagram allows people to post pictures on the internet. Usually the pictures people post are vacation photos or a very interesting photograph. Due to social media websites being a part of my generation’s daily life, these guidelines are followed non-intentional. 

              Big Brother from the book 1984 by George Orwell told his people through the thought police, "War is peace; Freedom is slavery; ignorance is strength" to influence them to believe what he wanted them to believe. Big Brother wanted his people to believe the opposite of war, slavery and ignorance so that he could influence them to do whatever he wanted them to do. Social media today will use certain words to influence people to believe in whatever they want people to believe in. Big news companies usually use this tactic when telling a biased story. Big news companies will try and influence people to think what they want people to think just like Big Brother. During the elections in the United States it is very easy to tell who each news company is voting for. Each news company is always biased when it comes to their candidate. They will only capture the good side to the candidate they are voting for. Whenever news companies cover the candidate they are not voting for they only tell the bad side of that candidate. The biased news coverage is propaganda that influences people’s votes.