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Various scientists look towards the future of Artificial Intelligence and what it means for the future of humanity in . Stephen Hawking once said that success in the creation of A.I. might end up being the biggest event in human history, though it might also be its last. A number of experts, including the “father of A.I.” Jürgen Schmidhuber and controversial data scientist Michael Kosinski give their opinions on the current state of Artificial Intelligence and what it means for the future of the human race.

iHuman is a documentary from filmmaker Tonje Hessen Schei (Drone) that is described as a “political thriller about artificial intelligence, power, and social control.” Indeed, one of the main issues brought up in the film is the amount of influence tech companies such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon have generated and how AI technologies are being used in both surveillance and military activities. There is also the concept of Artificial General Intelligence, which by definition can do jobs better than humans, which could lead to mass unemployment.

Image from the movie "iHuman"
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Ultimately I would say that the main message of iHuman is that artificial intelligence is inevitable and that humanity should be concerned. Tonje Hessen Schei tackles AI from the main sociopolitical repercussions, such as the loss of privacy and the increase of autonomous technology in weapons. Then, of course, there are the aspirations of China to become the world's leader in AI by 2030. Ultimately, iHuman doesn't really bring up any concerns that haven't already been brought up countless times before, but it does cause you to think about the future.

iHuman streams from May 28 – 31, 2020 as part of the online 2020 Hot Docs Film Festival

Live iHuman Big Ideas event featuring Hao Li, deepfake pioneer; and Lee Fang, investigative reporter, The Intercept streaming on May 31, 2020, at 3:00 PM

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How to Watch iHuman

Where to Stream iHuman

Sean Patrick Kelly
Sean Patrick Kelly
Sean Patrick Kelly is a freelance film critic and blogger based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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