In 1982, when Bladerunner was
released, 2019 could only have been a blink of an eye in people’s thoughts.
Even the year 2001, the year in which the movie 2001: A Space Odessey (1968)
takes place, must have seemed far off. Of course, the actual year was not so futuristic
as to have a computer take over a space station; controversy over AI eclipsing the
grasp of human control would not hit the societal mainstream for twenty years. So, Ridley Scott can hardly be blamed for positing
flying cars, and, even more astonishing, imposing the notion of a replicant, a
being of genetic biomechanics that fuses computer and human characteristics, on
2019. Even acknowledging the tremendous impacts on society of inventions since
the dawn of the twentieth century, the pace of technological change is slower
than we imagine. In 2019, on the cusp of a global pandemic, flying (and
self-driving) cars were just in the prototype/testing phase, and AI existed rudimentarily,
and certainly not corporeally in human form. Scott missed the mark, probably by
decades, though he got the trajectory right. Indeed, the film’s central issue—that
of the threat of run-away, or “rebellious,” AI to humans—was reflected in the
press especially during the first half of 2023. I contend, however, that the
philosophical merit of the film lies not in political theory, but, rather, in
what it means to be human. The nature of human understanding, self-awareness,
an ethical sense, and matters of theological reflection are all brought to the
forefront in the question of whether the replicants can and should be taken as human
beings. In other words, it is the fusion of AI, or computers more generally,
and biology that lies at the core of the film.
The full essay is at "Bladerunner."