REFLECTIONS ON HAL AND SAMANTHA

Tillmann Ohm

VIDEO INSTALLATION

Like listening to the couple at the next table arguing, Reflections on HAL and Samantha is a gripping conversation about emotions between the two most iconic operating systems in film history: HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Samantha from Her (2013). Unlike the robots in other science fiction movies, HAL and Samantha are conceptualized without the need of a physical body. In both movies, the machine-learning process allows the AI to gain consciousness and independence from human input.

In a mashup of dialogue from the two movies, a new context for the electronic protagonists' words is created. Their conversation is an emotional rollercoaster which reflects upon the relation between machines and emotion processing, and addresses the enigmatic question of the authenticity of feelings.

(photo © courtesy of the artist)