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.