Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s Western world It is currently airing its fourth season. However, HBO’s epic thriller on the ethics of artificial intelligence is not Nolan’s first foray into the subject. He previously created a CBS procedural on AI called person of interestand it was a much better show than Western world — which It hasn’t made it past its first season..
After completing work on brother Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, Jonathan still had Batman on his brain. He lamented the stories he didn’t get to tell: street level batman stories where the hero appears out of nowhere to save a life. person of interest told these stories, while also highlighting how the technology of the day is as dangerous as terrorism or crime. He shows that relying on technology can look woefully outdated very quickly; that was not the case person of interest. The moral questions the series raised are just as relevant as they were when it ended in 2016.
the premise of person of interest was that a Super AI called “The Machine” guided a billionaire computer genius and a former CIA black ops assassin to avoid premeditated assassinations. Just like Batman had the gadgets on him, Team Machine’s superpower was technology and the surveillance state. I like it Western world, the characters were morally gray — but person of interest differed from Western world because of that Batman influence. The main concern of the heroes was to save lives. It didn’t always work out, but they would kill themselves trying to save anyone they could.
From the idea of artificial intelligence (or lack thereof) first appeared in storytellers’ imaginations, it has become synonymous with emotionless machines. The fear around Super AI is that it will eventually determine that humans are irrelevant and must be destroyed. what are you doing person of interest The only thing is that he dares to ask what if the Super AI loves humanity? The Machine is a fully-fledged character in its own right. Sure, it’s a mix of how it was programmed and who did the programming, but this Super AI is just “good.”
The show dove deep into the issues around policing, the “good guys” and the “bad guys,” what makes a hero, and what happens when the hero fails. There were times when person of interest it got incredibly gloomy. At its core, though, it was a story about a group of broken people who showed up just in time to rescue someone. They risked their lives, and sometimes even more, in the service of doing simple and pure good. That heartless and dark version from Super AI appeared; however, his function was to contrast with how The Machine cares for humanity.
Western world is another AI story where the intelligences at the core are a threat to humans. The Super AI in Western world It is a reflection of the worst of humanity. person of interest it showed viewers what an AI that reflected the best of humanity would look like. Whatever threats existed to The Machine in the larger story of the series, he always made sure his “assets” rescued people in trouble. This was partly the nature of a procedural series; however, the cool byproduct of this need was that it characterized the heroes as committed to the sheer good of saving lives.
What is remarkable is how progressive the program was. Barring the absence of AI-powered smart speakers, the technological aspects of person of interest they are not outdated or out of step with today’s world. While the heroic AI violated everyone’s privacy, it did not use that information against people. All she did was give the heroes a social security number, forcing the humans to figure out what was going on. In fact, they didn’t even know if the person they were interested in from week to week was the victim or the perpetrator. The Machine did not judge; she only protected.
Despite critical excellence and acceptable ratings, it was the changing face of technology that got the show canceled. Owned and produced by Warner Bros. Television, the series aired on CBS, and with the broadcast wars on the horizon in 2016, that business deal no longer made sense for CBS. More than a few central characters did not survive the end of the series; however, season 5, episode 11, “Synecdoche” introduced a second Team Machine, and the series finale “return 0” pretty much explicitly stated that The Machine would continue with their mission. While the main characters of person of interest they were integral to the story, they weren’t necessary to the premise. A new group of characters could easily pick up the cause.
person of interest has a strange legacy. It was both a dark thriller about the technological takeover of a surveillance state and a story about how the most heroic act you can do is help someone. It was procedural by numbers, but it also had a rich mythology with dynamic storytelling. It’s the kind of series that will live far beyond its technological relevance. Either Western world is it hopeful or not, person of interest was, and still is, a new version of Super AI history. Instead of a machine dedicated to destroying humanity, the series lets us know that at least for a Super AI, humanity was worth loving.
Person of Interest is now streaming on HBO Max.