From: Durant Schoon (durant@ilm.com)
Date: Mon Dec 11 2000 - 11:51:28 MST
> Michael LaTorra wrote:
> >
> > I don't know what Steven Spielberg has in mind for this film in terms of his
> > opinion about the value of A.I. (Is he pro or con?) But here is a link to
> > the movie poster page, which is the only official website at this time:
> > http://aimovie.warnerbros.com/
>
> It looks like a major disaster from a technical perspective and nothing
> like a major disaster, perhaps even a bonus, from a social perspective.
> Which is a pleasant surprise. I'd heard Kubrick was con.
Hello!
(I just joined this list)
Obviously, I can't comment on this film, since ILM is working on the
effects. Remember that Kubrick made 2001 and had Marvin Minsky consult
I think. 2001 might seem like a "con" movie, but it is actually a very
serious film about AI. More serious than any other movie I can think of
off the top of my head (despite what anyone might think, I'm not a film
buff).
This might be too much of a blurred memory for me to get this right, but
when I was taking "The Society of Mind", years ago, Minsky was saying
something about the obelisk-thing being a dodecahedron or something
instead of a big box (1x4x9). But Stanley had protested that that a
"dodecahedron" would be far too inaccessible for the general public, so
the big box it was. Despite this seemingly low opinion of the average
intelligence of the masses, he did make a thought provoking film (IMHO).
(Did anyone read the book. Did I completely invent this memory?)
Now as for the film that I can't comment on: I was so worried they were
going to get this completely wrong, but from a couple things I've
heard about, it might not be that bad. In fact, I'm a bit intrigued
now. I couldn't decide if I wanted to work on it because I didn't
want to be associated with it if I hated it, since I take these
issues very seriously. I've already made my decision and I'm working
on a different project. I don't think they'll get everything right,
but I actually want to see the movie now.
As a general self observation: I've come to realize that the small
segments of films that I do see don't really help me determine if I'm
going to like the movie or not.
It's just too bad that I can't speculate on the "pro" vs. "con" thing,
you'll just have to wait and see for yourself ;^) If you search the
net, though, you'll find the story that the movie is roughly (and I
do mean roughly) based upon.
Once it comes out, I'm sure there will be lots of discussion about
the topic. Which could be "a good thing". Maybe some enterprising
9 year old will see the movie, whip out a version of flare and
kick off the seed AI before the end of next year :) Then we can
ask the AI, if it liked the movie.
-- Durant.
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