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Live Poll: The Mechanics - Ancient AIs
Intro:
The idea of a thinking machine is hardly new. Even film pioneer Georges Méliès explored the idea of an artificial being in Coppelia, the Animated Doll (1900) one of cinema’s earliest visions of a lifelike machine.
The computer was presented by Konrad Zuse on May 12, 1941, in his workshop at Methfesselstraße 7 in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The Z3 was the first programmable computer. Even before this new technology became generally known, filmmakers had the idea of a self-thinking machine. Afterwards, too, many myths still revolved around the new technology, which now inspired filmmakers more specifically than before, yet without hitting the mark precisely as our knowledge today allows us to see.
These early creations may seem far away from AI today, but they grew from the human desire to understand, create, and master the imaginable. Such free-ranging ideas can spark entire worlds — and sometimes their fantasies seem to anticipate our future. World of the free, home of the brave! Excelsior!
When you look at these titles, which seems to be the most interesting, or which of them are you most curious about?
For discussion, please click here.
Suggestions:
Please do me a favor. Your reserach must fit! Only characters, AIs, that are real thinking and are not purely mechanical. They should have their own mind, not only depending on screws, springs and nuts. Only movies 1960 and earlier!
dan_dassow
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10 days ago
@Breumaster,
For your consideration:
The AI / Creation: EMERAC ("Emmy") in Desk Set (1957)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050307/mediaviewer/rm190355456/
Context: Starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, this romantic comedy centers around the introduction of an electronic brain—the Electromagnetic Research Automatic Computer (EMERAC)—into a television network's research department. The film directly addresses early cultural anxieties surrounding automation, computer intelligence, and human job displacement.
Note: The film endows EMERAC with more intelligence and personality than any computer would have in 1957. Input was strictly via data card or typewriter and output via printouts.
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Pencho15
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9 days ago
FYC:
The Invisible Boy (1957) - A ten-year-old boy and Robby the Robot team up to prevent a Super Computer from controlling the Earth from a satellite.
La momia azteca contra el robot humano (1958) - A Mexican film, A mad doctor builds a robot in order to steal a valuable Aztec treasure from a tomb guarded by a centuries-old living mummy.
The Twonky (1953) - Tweedy college professor discovers his new TV set is animate, apparently possessed by something from the future, and militantly intent on regulating his daily life.
Tobor the Great (1954) - A young boy-genius befriends his grandfather's robot, designed as a test pilot for space travel and coveted by foreign spies.
The Master Mystery (1918) - Justice Department agent Quentin Locke must investigate a powerful cartel protected by a robot (here referred to as "The Automaton") and using a gas weapon "The Madagascar Madness".
Emergency Landing (1941) - A test pilot and his weather observer develop a "robot" control so airplanes can be flown without pilots, but enemy agents get wind of it and try to steal it or destroy it.
And if you want shorts, the first two are live action and the rest animated:
The Tin Man (1935) - Thelma and Patsy find themselves in a spooky house inhabited by a nut who is a mechanical genius and has made a robot that does everything.
L'uomo meccanico (1921) - The story begins with a scientist creating a device shaped like a man that can be remote-controlled by a machine.
Modern Inventions (1937) - Donald Duck visits a museum of modern inventions; among the inventions he struggles with: a robot butler who keeps taking his hat; a package wrapping machine; a robot nursemaid; an automated barber chair.
Push-Button Kitty (1952) - Tom's being especially lazy, which makes it even easier for Mammy to toss him out when her new mouse-catching robot cat, Mechano.
The Birth of the Robot (1936) - From a surreal paradise a shower of oil revives the thirsty cars and creatures.
Bosko's Mechanical Man (1933) - Bosko creates a robot. The only problem is that his creation goes mad wreaking havoc.
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Pencho15
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4 days ago
Live Poll: https://www.imdb.com/poll/N-cnbj7a761ZJj_k7psHnw/
Congratulations Breu.
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