The robotic star of 'Ex Machina' is toying with hapless SXSW attendees on Tinder
This post contains spoilers for the movie Ex Machina
If you're guaranteed one thing at SXSW, it's that a marketing stunt will play tricks with your stupid human heart. This year, singletons looking for love on Tinder encountered Ava, a 25-year-old New Yorker with a startling resemblance to actress Alicia Vikander. Unfortunately, it's only after you've engaged in a lengthy back and forth that you'll be told that she's not interested in a temporary tumble in Texas. Instead, the whole thing is just a cruel ruse to promote Alex Garland's new film, Ex Machina.
Once you swipe in the affirmative, Ava will ask you a series of questions, including if you've ever been in love and what makes you human. It's only once you read it back that you realize each question could equally apply to an artificial intelligence that's struggling to understand humanity and fool you of its own at the same time. Of course, given what Ava gets up to towards the end of the movie, we'd recommend swiping left or else you too may starve to death locked in a computer-controlled basement.
[Image Credit: Ad Week]
