First proposed in 1950, The Turing Test is an experiment that allows humans to appropriately gauge the intellectual capacity of a computer and, more importantly, whether it displays signs of artificial intelligence. It was a test that was irrefutably ahead of its time, and one that has become all the more relevant as technology continues to advance at an exponential rate.
It’s also one that will play a key part in Ex Machina, Alex Garland’s upcoming cerebral sci-fi that asks the pressing question: what happens when the line between man and machine becomes blurred?
Starring Domhnall Glesson and Oscar Isaac — who will both play a part in another sci-fi feature in 2015 that goes by the name Star Wars: The Force Awakens — alongside Alicia Vikander as the ground-breaking sentient A.I., Garland’s directorial debut is undeniably shaping up to be one to watch come next year. Plus, given that the screenwriter-cum-filmmaker has had a hand in the likes of 28 Days Later, Sunshine and 2012’s rather excellent Dredd reboot, we’re quietly excited that his first venture behind the camera delivers on its bold premise.
Ex Machina will posit existential questions aplenty when it comes online on April 10, 2015. For now, tell us, are you looking forward to Garland’s directorial debut? Let us know in the comments section below.
Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), a programmer at an internet-search giant, wins a competition to spend a week at the private mountain estate of the company’s brilliant and reclusive CEO, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac). Upon his arrival, Caleb learns that Nathan has chosen him to be the human component in a Turing Test – charging him with evaluating the capabilities, and ultimately the consciousness, of Nathan’s latest experiment in artificial intelligence. That experiment is Ava (Alicia Vikander), a breathtaking A.I. whose emotional intelligence proves more sophisticated, seductive––and more deceptive––than the two men could have imagined.
