Originally my perception of the future was very bleak, dark and dystopic like the blade runner trilogy where apocalyptic chaos ran mad in cities worldwide as shown in Los Angeles situated in 2019, in the movie. With cyborgs and clones with super human strength and intelligence called replicants; nexus model 6, which are identical to humans and the emergence of Artificial intelligence widespread, infiltrating every technological stream. The story line focuses around these replicants and their desires to live a more human experience which they are prevented from as the systems only allows them to live for four years. The film follows these four replicants and a cop that is chasing them down to kill them as they have illegally deviated from protocol.

The technology in the film presents rapidly advanced compared to the resources we have today and showcases extremities of government brutality, environmental changes and degradation and notions of ethical and safety practices between machine and humans. This makes us question the fears and challenges of progressively fast technology. Giving us insight into a possible techno dystopic future with the great acceleration of technology and dangers of AI with great implications of pollution, degradation and clashing between corporations with no room left for individual opinions or democracy. It arises the question of how are we going to manage this form of intelligence? Does it deserve laws and rights like humans? Where is the line between distinction from human and robot? This type of future was highlighted in Chris Riedy’s week 3 lecture on an into to the future where he discussed the different types of future categories common in this area and specifically the complications with contradictions and believability of a dystopia like the one portrayed in Blade runner (1982).

 

Blade runner through an analysis of Sohail Inyatullah’s Methods explores the possibilities for a future like blade runner’s where possibly once stream of the future could result in these factor but only through a series of major events to cause this effect in the long term. I think the future will very well display these themes of corporate power, oppression, technologically enhanced as mega cities and newer inventions emerge, it will not be long until these elements will start to show and fester into a dystopian future of heavy political disruption which can be seen today in Trump and Kim jong un’s decisions governing their countries might well lead to a nuclear missile war, it’s just a matter of who will strike first. Environmentally I think the future might lose a great range of fauna and flora to human activity and rapid environmental shifts in temperature or terrain. Cyborgs and human editing technology will also become a possibility as we observe present cases of prosthetics such as Nick Ackland’s Terminator arm.

From analysing and observations from the film blade runner my perception of the future has been enlightened and confirms the technological rampage of intelligence and contradictory natures of human kind and with the extremities showcased let’s hope the world changes its ways about AI and think before they bring something into a world which is not ready for it. Therefore we must take legal action to prepare with laws put in place to deal with technological outbreaks and newer territories which we have never dealt with in justice systems, social systems, political systems and the environment we live in.

References

IMAGES

Philip. K. D, 1982, Front cover of movie tie-in paperback, Repository: Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library, New York: Ballantine Books, Artstor, viewed on the 19 August 2018

<http://library.artstor.org.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/asset/SS35197_35197_26885608&gt;

Napper.T. R, 2015, the Art and Beauty of Blade runner, blog, images, viewed on the 19 August 2018

<http://www.nappertime.com/the-art-of-and-beauty-of-blade-runner/&gt;

CLASS SOURCES

LECTURE NOTES WK 3

Inayatullah. S, 2007, The six pillars: futures thing for transforming, Sohail Inyatullah, emerald insight, viewed on the 17 August 2018

<https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/14636680810855991&gt;

FILM

Gomovies, 1982, Blade runner, Gomovies online stream, film, viewed on the 18 August 2018

<https://www2.gomoviesuk.com/blade-runner-detail-174.html&gt;