"Welcome to the desert of the real"

It had been quite a while since I had last seen The Matrix so, with it assigned for next class' discussion, I thought it would be best to refresh my memory and watch it again. What a great idea that was! At first, I thought that I would recall everything: what the matrix was, why the resistance was fighting, and so on. Yet as I continued, it was evident that I was missing large pieces of the storyline (probably because my eight-year-old brain couldn't contemplate them at the time).  So, now more attune to the actions and reasoning of each character, I picked up on a good deal of information with this second run through.

The desert of the real; Photo from Tala Oszkay

What I learned, however, only frightened me. In this futuristic, Terminator-like story line, a battle is being waged between humans and machines over the freedom of human kind. And freedom from what? Well, for those of you who haven't seen the trilogy, it's freedom from slavery. Here, after the surface world was destroyed, humans were either driven underground or captured. Those that were captured were stored in pods and used as, for lack of a better word, batteries—their body's naturally produced electrical currents absorbed to power the machines. While in these pods, they are connected to a virtual reality known as the matrix. Here, their lives are kept under control by "agents," giving the seemingly picturesque world a prison-like feel. Yet, even under the oversight of the agents, life progresses as normal, and few suspect that the world they inhabit is little more than a dream. On the contrary, scenes like this make us question the world we live in. Are the things we feel, taste, and smell existent, or are they simply signals fed to and then interpreted by our brains? For all we know, we could be hooked up at this very moment, and not even realize it. Disturbing, don't you think?

In the movie, the war between humans and machines began after the creation of AI, and with current computer intelligence increasing exponentially, it seems to be only a matter of time before computers will be able to think freely and generate complex thoughts. Some predict that this event, known as the singularity, may occur in 2029 or maybe even sooner. Personally, I believe that the singularity is right around the corner, and I am quite concerned. Alongside Sven Birkerts, let me also warn of the dangers of artificial intelligence; we should be careful with what we create. Yet with the new age of AI already underway, all we can hope is that our world isn't brought to ruin.

Sources Cited

• The Matrix. Dir. Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski. Perf. Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Warner Home Video, 1999. DVD.
• Oszkay, Tala. Desert of the Real. Digital image. Miss Electric. Miss Electric, 31 Jan. 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2011. <http://tinyurl.com/48tq9a6>.