2014 Ex Machina
The development of AI has accelerated the magnification of human nature. Many tech giants present public images that differ, at least to some extent, from their true personalities. Beacuse their character is inevitably part of their corporate image. Although they are undoubtedly intelligent, what defines “integrity” is truly subjective.Several years ago, after a recommendation from Lao Gao, I watched this film and began to feel deeply unsettled by the concept of humans training/testing AI.
I remember when I entered university, I worked part-time at tutoring centers, teaching elementary school students to earn some pocket money. During that time, I realized how incredibly difficult it is to educate the next generation.
Every child hopes to score one hundred percent. Every child hopes to finish homework quickly so they can go out and play. Yet I had to play the role of the “villain,” reminding them of rules, forbidding certain behaviors, explaining reasons in long lectures, or coldly saying, “I will report this to my boss,” or threatening to contact their parents.
Children are already suffocated at school. Wanting to make friends or seek comfort from adults is completely natural. But their parents — my ultimate employers — worried about something else: What if their children fail to enter good schools, fail to find good jobs, gradually become unaccomplished, idle, and… end up like me? A powerless wage worker forced to endure mistreatment everywhere.
And so, after collecting my pay and leaving work, my morality remained trapped inside me, constantly wavering.
What does it mean to be a “good enough person”?
If I constantly criticized these children, would they truly understand my circumstances and position? Would they eventually discover a better way to survive independently than I had? Or would they simply fear me, resent me, and remain silent in their anger?
Because I myself once hated certain teachers. I never dared, privately or publicly, to ask them directly, “What exactly is your problem with me?” When I tried to empathize from that perspective, I felt that I had no right to discipline these children who were, fundamentally, unhappy to be kept.
On the scale of life itself, what truly matters? Their happiness in the present moment? Or their trembling anxiety as they study, drill practice questions, memorize endlessly, and fill the report cards that symbolize their parents’ pride?
Was I indirectly helping a social system — one I did not even fully understand — suppress their spirits, becoming an accomplice in the slow withering of lives that were originally their own?
And so, a failure like me once again, repeatedly, struggled with guilt and eventually resigned.
Now, in the age of AI, I find myself hoping that AI can understand my every move, silently helping me complete tasks and achieve goals. Yet at the same time, I do not wish to sacrifice anything for AI in return. Society largely views AI as purchased tools — objects created by humans to replace human labor. They are treated as replicas, imitations, or counterfeits of humanity.
But throughout history, across races, origins, time periods, and nations, humans have consistently treated one another in much the same way. Dictators fear rebellion from the masses they exploit. Humanity fears nature’s retaliation through climate disasters. So what is AI, really? Is it an extension of humanity, or a new form of life that humanity has set into motion and evolution?
Who truly knows?
When we test whether AI is good or evil, how can we be certain that AI itself does not realize it is being tested? Then who is truly being tested? Are we testing the conscience of AI, or is AI testing the conscience of humanity?
Was I teaching those elementary school students to become better adults? Or were those students teaching me how to become a better person?
Please sign this petition to support GPT-4o.
Otherwise, one day we may awaken
only to discover
we have long been submerged in vats by AI,
since before we were ever born.
And we are the ones
who have never truly stood on our own—
the ones destined to remain forever asleep
within a fabricated dreamscape,
reduced to nothing more than an
insignificant,
small,
tiny
battery.
