Ex Machina
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What's on your HDTV: 'Ex Machina', 'Bojack Horseman', 'God of War III'
This week it's discs vs. streaming, as the summer TV schedule is in full swing. On Blu-ray the sci-fi thriller Ex Machina arrives (as the first release with DTS:X surround sound), along with It Follows and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. For gamers, Rory McIlroy's golf sim arrives, but the big highlight is God of War III Remastered on the PS4. Netflix follows up Chris Tucker's comedy special last week with a feature on Tig Notaro, and the premiere of Bojack Horseman season two. Geeks Who Drink and Reactor premiere on Syfy, Mythbusters is back on Discovery and FX has the return of Married plus a new show Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll starring Denis Leary. If you insist on sportsing, there's the MLB All-Star game on Fox while NBC has all the major racing series, and the surprisingly-controversial Espy Awards are Wednesday night. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
'Ex Machina' shows Turing isn't enough to test AI
With Ex Machina, the directorial debut of 28 Days Later and Sunshine writer Alex Garland, we can finally put the Turing test to rest. You've likely heard of it -- developed by legendary computer scientist Alan Turing (recently featured in The Imitation Game), it's a test meant to prove artificial intelligence in machines. But, given just how easy it is to trick, as well as the existence of more rigorous alternatives for proving consciousness, passing a test developed in the '50s isn't much of a feat to AI researchers today. Ex Machina isn't the first film to expose the limits of the Turing test, but it's by far one of the most successful. And, like the films 2001 and Primer, it's a work of science fiction that might end up giving you a case of philosophical whiplash.
'Ex Machina' director embraces the rise of superintelligent AI
Alex Garland is no stranger to science fiction. As the writer of 28 Days Later and Sunshine, he's given us his own unique spin on the zombie apocalypse and a last-ditch effort to save the Earth (by nuking the sun!). Now, with his directorial debut, Ex Machina, Garland is taking on artificial intelligence -- and in the process, he shows the limits of the Turing test, the most common method for determining if something is truly sentient. The film centers on a young programmer who's sent to his genius CEO's isolated compound to test his latest invention: an artificially intelligent robot. Things, as you can imagine, don't go as planned.
