Transparency Item: The Perspectives section of the Graphic is comprised of articles based on opinion. This is the opinion and perspective of the writer.
The interaction between humanity and technology has become a prominent topic of discourse in the past decade, reflected in an uptick of dystopian fiction, sci-fi movies and heavy coverage in journalism regarding artificial intelligence. Much of this discourse has been pessimistic, focused mainly on the variety of threats that advancing technology could pose against the world.
I do not disagree with many of these assertions. I think the idea that robots will soon declare war on humans and end our existence is mostly exaggerated; however, the threat exists in the use of technology to develop weapons, algorithms and tools that threaten privacy.
I am also highly critical of attempts to replace human creativity in particular and find that the concepts of A.I. art and ChatGPT novels are unethical and unrealistic. With any growth in technology, there comes a risk of inviting harm.
With these ideas in mind, I recently rewatched Pixar’s “WALL-E,” and I was struck by its optimism toward robots and wondered how it contributes to the conversation about emerging technology.
“WALL-E,” starring the voices of Ben Burtt as WALL-E and Elissa Knight as EVE, is not a strictly optimistic look into the future. The movie presents a planet that has been completely overrun by trash and pollution, and a spaceship of human beings who are living off the consumerist ideals that drove them off of Earth in the first place.
Apparently the last functioning robot on Earth, WALL-E finds a little green plant shortly before he witnesses the arrival of a probe robot called EVE, sent to search fruitlessly for signs of sustained life. WALL-E, who idealizes the kind of love portrayed in his ancient “Hello, Dolly!” tape, follows her back to the spaceship where they change the trajectory of humanity’s course.
Though this movie is as post-apocalyptic as it gets, set almost 700 years after the world has effectively ended, it does not give the audience a world that was mercilessly ruined by the robots. The humans ended the world on their own, and it was the robots who led them to its resurrection.
I cannot answer the question of whether it’s possible for robots to become so self-aware that they can have complicated motivations, pure intentions and high emotions. I lean on the side of no, but I have met very thoughtful people who disagree with me.
However, I think these potential arguments about robots are not the most important arguments the movie poses. Instead, the most important arguments have to do with the humans watching; it would be easy for humans to ruin everything, easier for them than it is for robots.
It seems to me that technology paranoia isn’t about technology at all but about technology in human hands. The classic vision of a technology apocalypse is tragic in the same way that “Frankenstein” is tragic; humans would be killed by monsters of their own making.
I’m a little afraid of robots, but I think I’ll always be a little more afraid of people.
All things considered, I will not say that humans are fundamentally evil or that everything they create is bound to be evil. Research suggests that altruism, motivated by empathy and unadulterated by self-interest, exists at some level in human development.
Love in all of its forms seems undeniably real, not only from the invisible, unexplainable experience of many people but from the movement of neurotransmitters throughout the brain.
I find it interesting that the movie “WALL-E” positions its machines as exemplars of altruism and love, capable of heroic sacrifices and affectionate gestures. Yet, the movie is really asserting what is good about people, demonstrating what human beings need to flourish beyond survival or excess.
The things that the humans aboard the spaceship start to remember, despite never having really lived before, include music, dancing and appreciation for how beautiful the stars are. They seem as programmed as machines to remember what is special about them, and the robots are instrumental in reminding them of their purpose.
So as humanity moves forward with new technology, humanity has to remember why it is here. It is possible for people to ruin themselves with their own monsters, but that can only happen if they ignore the possibility of the monsters saving people, allowing them to nurture, not replace, what makes them remarkable.
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Contact Alyssa Johnson via email: alyssa.johnson@pepperdine.edu
