We hear in the news that the US Government via the House of Reps is about to do an “investigation” into the claims a whistle blower who has been in a position of Probably Knowing, has blown the lid on the existence of not just UFOs, but that the Gummerment has actual partial, and even probably fully intact, extra-terrestrial UFO vehicles in its possession.
There is talk of “exotic materials” being available.
An ex-UK Ministry of Defence official, who is also in a position of Probably Knowing, has suggested that such an enquiry would simply be peppered with “no comment that is under investigation” statements and thus get nowhere, but it got me thinking.
How many movies have been made along this premise? No, not purely entertainment ones such as Galaxy Guest or Flash Gordon, but the thoughtful ones.
Springing to mind is Interstellar, Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind and of course, the granddaddy of them all, 2001: A Space Odyssey and its sequel. 2010: Odyssey 2.
(You DID know there was a sequel movie, yes? And the original book has 3 sequels, 2010, 2063 and 3001.)
The subject sort of melds into the conversation-du-jour of AI.
2001: A Space Odyssey famously investigated this via possibly the most well known computer of all (in moviedom anyway), HAL. And no, the author Arthur C. Clarke vehemently denied the letters were deliberately based one each removed from the letters of the computer giant IBM.
Anyway, the plot of the movie didn’t bode well for the humans involved as those who have seen the film will remember.
BUT!
The flaw in the ‘AI’ of HAL was NOT due to its failings AS an AI entity, but on the original programming of mankind … err sorry, humankind.
Spoiler: 2010:Odyssey 2 answers a lot more questions too.
And this is what I personally think of all the arguments, commentary and theories flying around today on AI. It is created by humans. Not the evolving thought processes of some electronic set of circuits that have suddenly become sentient.
What are your thoughts? And what other movies can you add to this list I may not be aware of?