| In his documentary film, The Singularity, director Doug Wolens interviewed leading futurists, computer scientists, artificial intelligence experts, and philosophers examine the question of what will humanity look like in the future. |
The film has just been released on iTunes.
According to Wolens, he first learned about the Singularity concept in 2000 while on the road self-distributing his documentary Butterfly (about the young woman who sat in an ancient redwood tree for two years preventing it from being cut down).
Ray Kurzweil’s argument that the rate of technology advances exponentially sounded reasonable to Wolens. As he read more about the science involved he became inspired with the arguments, especially having grown up in an age when "we were taught that science could solve all problems."
Those who insist this paradigm shift is only decades away emphasize that we’re on the cusp of creating nanotechnology that will patrol our bloodstream and repair cellular damage, athletes with jacked-up genetic code who sprint like gazelles, the Internet will interact directly with your mind, and medical labs with computer-replicated brains working by the thousands to cure disease.
In the film, Wolens interviews: Kurzweil, Leon Panetta, Richard A. Clarke, Bill McKibben, David Chalmers, Christof Koch, Aubrey De Grey, Ralph Merkle, Brad Templeton, Cynthia Breazeal, Marshall Brain, Glenn Zorpette and many others.
Ultimately, if we become more machine-like, and machines more like us, will we sacrifice our humanity to gain something greater? Or will we engineer our own demise? Even if the answers are impossible to know, The Singularity makes clear that we cannot postpone addressing the questions.
The down-to-earth and visually fun animations created by Jerry van de Beek and Betsy de Fries of Little Fluffy Clouds, illustrate the complex ideas with clear and simple artistry. These animations build upon our past notions of the future and playfully complement the talking-head interviews.
The film’s score, composed by renowned cellist Chris Lancaster, resonates to the viewer’s core. Wanting to stay away from heavy-handed music and sound cues, Wolens and Lancaster collaborated to create a cohesive sound that reflects the film’s sensibilities and aesthetics. The Singularity is a comprehensive and insightful documentary that examines technology’s accelerating rate, and deftly addresses the resulting moral questions. —
SOUR CE The Singularity Film
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