| Given that AI technology in the real world is in its infancy,the mainstream intellectual "thought experiment" of "reflecting on today from the future" is the most common method of discourse when talking about future technology and the fate of humanity,and film serves as the usual "medium" for bridging reality and the future.At a time when the development of AI technology is approaching a singularity,when intelligent robots have become the second most important subject of communication in addition to humans,and when human-machine communication,as a sub-discipline of communication,is coordinating the scattered studies of human-computer relations,human-agent interaction and human-robot interaction.At this time,how to start from artificial intelligence(AI)movies and respond to the philosophical question of "where will the future of human-machine communication go" has become a new era topic in communication research.Since the release of Metropolis in 1927,AI films have developed for nearly a hundred years,and have formed a tradition of hostile utopian narratives of machine rebellion,human-machine dichotomy and creation reflection,in stark contrast to the current boom in artificial intelligence technology.As a visual representation and extension of the technological view of reality,the mainstream of AI films’ antitopian narrative does not deny the possibility of utopian cinema.Bicentennial Man,released in 1999,breaks away from the antitopian narrative tradition of AI films and imaginatively constructs an ideal vision of human-machine communication,responding to mankind’s desire to achieve freedom and happiness through the development of technology.Based on society’s general expectation for the development of AI technology,this paper takes Bicentennial Man as a typical text,and through textual analysis and comparative studies,and by combining the philosophy of technology and relevant theories of the post-human,attempts to dissect the multiple possibilities of human-machine communication in the future vision and its impact on the ultimate destiny of humanity.Specifically,the paper will focus on the following three questions: 1.what kind of media technology view is implied by the AI film Bicentennial Man;2.what kind of technology/human-machine communication picture is depicted by Bicentennial Man;3.how to reflect on and accommodate the philosophy of technology and communication discourse induced by the AI film.The study finds that Bicentennial Man implicitly embraces the dominant technological view of media ontology,in which technology is an independent being that is not dependent on humans,and robots enjoy the same subjectivity as humans,which allows for equal communication and interaction between humans and machines.Although the film is dominated by the media ontology,it does not ignore the many possibilities of the media view,as notions such as media instrumentalism,media original sin and media determinism are presented through supporting characters,suggesting the complexity and plurality of different individual media views.Because of the dominant notion of media ontology and respect for the subjectivity of robots,the evolution of the plot of Bicentennial Man is characterised by utopian perfection,while the ideal human-machine communication landscape therein is underpinned by four sets of logic: subject,technology,environment and law,and unified under the notions of humanism and media ontology.Underpinned by humanist ideas,Andrew the Robot domesticates and reinvents himself on a human scale,making himself more human than machine,which dissolves the possibility of machine rebellion and patricide.Bicentennial Man’s absolute confidence in mastering the machine is a typical mapping of the human idea of technological optimism.Although it depicts a utopian picture of human-machine communication,it also implies a realistic worry about human-machine coexistence and puts emerging issues such as the machine subject,the boundary between human and machine and the difficulty of immortality in front of human beings,casting a cloud over the construction of an ideal human-machine relationship.Because of its internalized humanism and its absolute confidence in the "human" nature of the machine and its control of technology,Bicentennial Man actively eliminates the possibility of human-machine communication becoming antagonistic and presents a direct picture of the ideal of human-machine interaction(the end),while the means to achieve this end(the means)are somewhat hollow in the film.This is where the need to step out of the "end"(the means)comes in.This is where it is necessary to take the initiative to move out of the "utopia" and back into the "enemy utopia" by looking at the antithesis of Bicentennial Man-the enemy utopian AI film-for answers(means).Borrowing from Вайцман’s perspective,viewing Hollywood AI films as a whole as a philosophical field of debate on human-machine communication,and finds that the future human-machine relationship has four possibilities:master-servant,archenemy,co-habitation and reversal,reflecting the filmmaker’s reflection on and response to the extent of AI technology development.Although an appropriation and mapping of real human-object/human relationships,the human-machine relationship in the film is much more homogeneous(which is determined by the theme and duration of the film).Therefore,to further explore the multiple possibilities of human-machine communication in the future horizon,beyond the technological imagination,complex,multiple and entangled social/human relationships need to be introduced into the topical discussion as well.As enlightenment rather than an answer,the utopian AI films represented by Bicentennial Man and the hostile AI films represented by The Matrix and The Terminator warn people in both positive and negative ways: as technological development enters a singularity moment,artificial intelligence begins to possess emotions and consciousness,human-machine integration enters a new phase,and the subject of human-machine communication will be revolutionised once again.At that time,traditional humans,multi-intelligent machines and post-humans,as the three main communication actors,will once again rewrite the already changing communication ecology and social relations.How to improve and embrace technology,to partially or even completely abandon the old humanist understanding that "man is the measure of all things",to allow machines to share human values and ethics while respecting their subjectivity,and to actively contribute to the establishment of a community of interests between man and machine,will become the primary communication and even social issue. |
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