Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, The Matrix; existentialism in the face of artificial life. AI, once thought within our grasp, seems distant and unattainable the more we strive to create it. Yet our fascination with the idea only grows.

Perhaps it is that we try to understand our own existence by trying to become God. We hope that the act of creating artificial life will give us insights we’ve lacked so far, and through it we will at last make sense of it all.

Writers and movie makers seem to doubt it, and I tend to agree with their vision. As prophesied in these films, AI will not enlighten us. If anything, it will serve to emphasize our ignorance.

I really need to cut down on DVD marathons when already in a melancholic mood.

When I first heard about this movie being made, I was a little bit skeptical. Initial casting didn’t do much to instill confidence. Then they decided upon Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin. And I knew all would be well.

Ghost in the Shell 2 is a fountain of eyecandy. It’s so stunningly beautiful that I was almost sorry the story forces you to pay attention to what is being said instead of what is being shown. Like the first one, this movie requires several viewings before all the concepts are understood.

I believe GitS2 could only have been made in Japan, for due to that country’s techno-fetishes Japanese popular culture is already juggling philosophical ideas that are only now moving out of the vaults of scientists in the rest of the western world. The thing is, these aren’t concepts that only apply to Japan’s peculiar sense of taste (like, say, tentacle-sex), but are increasingly relevant questions originating from a sense of fear at our own technological accomplishments.

For the uninitiated, I’m talking about artificial intelligence and what divides human life from artificial life. The Japanese are way ahead of us in that regard, and I suspect they’ll be taking on a leading role in future AI-developments. If they don’t, they should. I trust them more to deal with it sensibly, having explored potential nightmare scenarios in popular media much more in depth than anyone else.

This is one of the best ideas [pdf] of the past few years.

Chelle posted a set of Geek Epitaphs she got from differentSky. I figured I’d repost it here, and add a little game: come up with your own Geek Epitaphs to add to the list. I have a few additions of my own to start with.

The original list:
* Connection Reset by Peer
* Rem in peace
* Last instruction executed
* Infested with Worms
* Parsed Away
* End Function
* Set to Nothing
* Version 1 no longer supported
* Run-time licence expired
* Alt-F4
* ^Z
* is null
* Terminated but Stayed Resident
* Close all programs and log on as a different user (for Buddhists)

And my additions:
* </life> (old but still good)
* ^c
* EOF

Add your own in the comments.

From the DNRC newsletter:

Dear Dogbert,

Dogbert

Breaking news in the Netherlands: Theo van Gogh, one of this country’s most vocal opposers of the current government and fiercely loyal follower of the assassinated Pim Fortuyn, has been shot and killed in Amsterdam this morning.

I’m too shocked to add any sensible comment right now.

It seems William Gibson has resumed blogging, specifically to vent his thoughts about the upcoming US presidential election.

I am now the proud owner of an Xbox. Technically it’s a used Xbox, though its total active time before I acquired it amounts to about six minutes. An acquaintance of mine bought it, but it turns out it’s a slightly updated version, which means a pal of his can’t hack it. And since he bought the bloody thing specifically to have it hacked and pumped full of ripped games, he passed it on to me for the friendly price of €100 (€50 below store price). Half the accessories were still plastic-wrapped.

Now I have to divide my game time between multiplayer mayhem on my PC and console coolness on the Xbox. There are some superb Xbox-only games out there that demand my attention, such as Burnout 3, Fable, and Ninja Gaiden.

There go the eviscerated remains of my social life.

Which OS are You?

And this is the best internet money-making scheme ever: Save Bernd!