Difference between revisions of "Humans (British TV Series)"

Revision as of 20:25, 15 March 2019

Humans is a British sci-fi television series produced by Channel 4, Kudos, and AMC. The first season aired on June 14th 2015, with two seasons following, each with eight episodes. The writers, Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley are also credited for Broadchurch, The Hour, and The Tunnel. Humans is based on the Swedish science fiction television show Real Humans, which also features consumer humanoid robots.

Humans television series cover

In Humans, the eerily human-like robots are called “Synths”, which are available for any consumer that can afford them. They can take care of the elderly, clean houses, drive cars, babysit children, and much more. The only thing distinguishing them from humans are their unnatural green eyes. The integration of synths into a reality similar to the current asses their potential influence on society. The main ethical questions in the show are in regards to the future of artificial intelligence. In the face of AI, the human race must consider the ethical implications of singularity, robot rights and consciousness, privacy, and human-robot interaction.

About Humans

Plot Lines

Humans is based in London in a parallel present, except it has synths ^[1]

• Plot 1 (central): Laura (Katherine Parkinson) and Joe (Tom Goodman-Hill) Hawkins, parents of Mattie, Toby and Sophie, live hectic lives trying to take care of their family. They decide to buy a Synth and name her Anita (Gemma Chan). Anita is not only able to tidy up their house, but also their lives, making everything easier and helping the family to re-connect. However, Anita shows some signs of being slightly off, because of her extensive knowledge of the Hawkins family dynamics.

• Plot 2: George Millican (William Hurt) lives with his Synth Odi (Will Tudor), his government designated caretaker due to health issues. Odi, however, needs to be updated and often malfunctions, but George has formed a father-son bond with him. Because of this, authorities threaten to replace Odi in favor of a stricter, fully functioning Synth. George attempts to hide his relationship with Odi in order to continue living an unhealthy, but free, life.

• Plot 3: Leo (Colin Morgan) and his Synth Max (Ivanno Jeremiah) are bound at the hip. Max seems to be unlike other Synths for unknown reasons, and Leo is looking for someone from his past.

• Plot 4: Peter Drummond (Neil Maskell) works on the Special Technologies Task Force combatting any Synth related issues. During the season, he is presented with a case unlike anything he has ever seen.

Marketing

Persona Synthetics Advertisement

Before Humans announced its TV plot, they duped British consumers into thinking that Synths were available for purchase ^[2] . Synths were initially listed on a fake eBay store, boasting 200,000 viewers and its first 72 hours. ^[3] After the initial success, Persona Synthetics was created to pose as the company selling Synths to the public. In collaboration with Microsoft, Persona Synthetics made its debut on Regent Street in London with a faux pop-up shop. The storefront utilized screens with life-size Synths, boasting their varying abilities and advertising why would soon be in all households. Persona Synthetics took marketing to the next step, with a fully-functioning website ^[4] . The company's slogan is "Bringing you products that are closer to humans than ever."

The initial Synth advertisements generated fear in the UK, with citizens concerned that Synths were actually available ^[5]. This concern is exactly what the Humans marketing teams aimed for because it caused future viewers to question the reality of just how close this technology may be to creation .

Synth Creation

All Synths are played by human actors in an attempt to make them seem even more real to viewers. In order to train actors to become Synths, they had to attend Synth School in which they were taught how to rid people of human body language and gestures. Actor Gemma Chan who plays Anita explains, “It comes down to the fact that Synths are machines, ultimately, and every movement they make uses up energy and battery power so there has to be an economy and a reason everything’s done the way it is.” ^[6] This removal of human-ness from the Synths is a chilling reminder that robots should not have all human qualities. But in the television series, the Synths prove to have some sort of human-ness programmed inside of them.

Ethical Concerns

Humans' intent is to bring attention to the simple fact that artificial intelligence is not far off. Their marketing strategies enhanced this message and set the stage for viewers to understand that AI is part of their current lives. However, AI brings many ethical implications with it. The top three AI ethical concerns in Humans are: singularity, privacy, robot rights, and human-robot interactions ^[7]

Singularity

Humans are currently the most intelligent creatures on Earth. However, if we as such intelligent creatures are working to design artificial intelligence that is more intelligent than us, there is a high likelihood that we are capable of doing so. Frances Grodzinsky has also asked this question, wondering if “an artificial agent that changes its programming [can] become so autonomous that the original designer is no longer” able to control the artificial agent? ^[8]. In Humans, Anita shows signs of being more human than her owners expect her to be. The fear that Anita, and other Synths, are more advanced than anticipated causes the television characters and viewers to question if artificial intelligence like this could pose a threat to humanity, and eventually become the superior race.

Robot Rights and Consciousness

Warning -- Humans spoiler alert!

A common theme throughout Humans is the potential for Synth consciousness. Synth creator David Elster may have cracked the code in order to grant them consciousness, feeling, and emotion. Later in the show it becomes clear that Synths are in fact capable of it.

If artificial intelligence became capable of consciousness, like in Humans, it would cause humanity to decide if AI needs and/or deserves rights and protections. Humanity currently protects people because they are conscious, so would the same go for AI if they ever reached that capability? Floridi suggests an ecopoetic approach, which is “one which does not privilege the natural or untouched but treats as authentic and genuine all forms of existence and behavior, even those based on artificial, synthetic or engineered artefacts.” ^[9]., additional text.</ref> However, the ethical concern here definitely does not only have one answer but calls for an understanding of AI ethics before this issue arises.

In Humans, many of the Synths are hacked, for better or for worse. Would something like this be allowed if all Synths had consciousness? Do we understand consciousness enough to decide something like this?

Privacy

Synths are invited into consumers’ homes with little understanding from consumers of what information they retrieve. In fact, the Hawkins family is often stunned at what information Anita contains, some due to her consciousness and some due to her constant monitoring of the family’s actions. Anita is gathering infinite data on the Hawkins, and they have no idea what information she retains ^[10] .

This concerns the information ethics issue of privacy. Anita is capable of listening to anything and storing that data. This surveillance is defined as perfect voyeurism, “covert watching or listening that is neither discovered nor publicized.” ^[11]. Not knowing how Synth information is stored and who has access to it is a problem that has already manifested itself in current technologies, like Alexa and Apple products.

Human Robot Interaction

As technology has become a more prominent part of current life, it has continued to pose a threat to authentic, technology-free relationships. However, with artificial technology like Synths, which are designed to mimic humans as best as possible, the implications of technology on human relationships becomes even greater. People will consistently interact with both humans and machines, blurring the lines between the two. Will robots be considered a healthy alternative to human interaction? How does the answer to this question change if robots at able to achieve consciousness?

See Also

• Alexa
• Intelligence and Technology
• [SuperIntelligence]
• [Mirror]
• Confidentiality of Online Data
• Informational Friction
• Surveillance Technologies
• Technological Singularity
• Virtual Assistants
• Westworld and AI