By Javier Surasky
Worksheet
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Steven
Spielberg · 2001 · United States
Note: Scene timecodes may vary
depending on the version of the film being used.
Main focus:
Sentience,
social exclusion, and human responsibility toward artificial beings capable of
forming emotional bonds.
Notable fact:
The film
was developed over many years by Stanley Kubrick, who believed that bringing
the story to the screen required technological advances that were not yet
available. After Kubrick’s death, Steven Spielberg took over the project and
directed it, while seeking to preserve aspects of Kubrick’s original vision.
Analytical framework:
The film
introduces an ethical reversal: the central issue is to examine what
obligations arise for human beings when they design an entity capable of
loving, suffering, remembering, and seeking recognition.
David is
presented as a technological product who is, at the same time, a vulnerable
subject made emotionally dependent through programming. Unable to understand
the meaning of many of his own actions, he tries to meet expectations in the
hope of being loved by his human “mother.”
Scenes for discussing A.I. Artificial Intelligence
1. Activating the maternal bond
- Scene: Monica carries out the imprinting
procedure that emotionally binds David to her, and David begins to recognize
her irreversibly as his mother.
- Narrative
location: when
Monica, still affected by her biological son’s illness, has begun to accept
David’s presence (00:22:35–00:24:43).
- Topics
for discussion: informed
consent, programmed attachment, motherhood, emotional dependence, technological
irreversibility, corporate responsibility, and user responsibility.
- Suggested
discussion prompt: Is
an emotional bond created through programming authentic?
2. Martin’s return and David’s exclusion
- Scene: After Martin recovers, David loses
his place in the family. During a family dinner, Martin pressures David into
eating, even though his body was not designed to process food. David does so
and must be taken in for repairs. Martin’s provocations and the adults’ growing
mistrust intensify tensions within the family.
- Narrative
location: when the
biological son’s return changes the family dynamic and David feels that he must
compete with Martin for Monica’s affection (00:32:20–00:43:34).
- Topics
for discussion: discrimination
between humans and robots; the social construction of difference; the
distinction between simulation and experience; fear of technology; the effects
of technological progress on family life.
- Suggested
discussion prompt: Is
David excluded because he poses a danger, or because his resemblance to a human
child destabilizes family bonds?
3. Abandonment in the forest
- Scene: Monica takes David to the forest,
apparently intending to return him to the company, but ultimately decides to
abandon him in order to prevent his destruction. David begs her not to leave
him and promises to become a real boy so that he can regain her love.
- Narrative
location: when the
conflicts within the family have convinced Henry that David must be returned,
and Monica comes to accept this as inevitable (00:49:10–00:52:34).
- Topics
for discussion: abandonment,
technological waste, parental responsibility in relation to technology, and
user obligations.
- Suggested
discussion prompt: Can
Monica simply abandon David after deliberately activating his love for and
dependence on her?
4. The Flesh Fair
- Scene: Robots considered obsolete or
fugitive are captured and publicly destroyed through violent means in a
spectacle intended to affirm the superiority and authenticity of human life.
- Narrative
location: when
David and Gigolo Joe have been captured along with other discarded robots and
are being held for use in the fair (01:06:29–01:15:25).
- Topics
for discussion: dehumanization,
collective violence, technological obsolescence, the idea of humanity as
opposed to technology, and anthropomorphism as a source of empathy.
- Suggested
discussion prompt: Does
the crowd’s violence arise from the need to reaffirm a distinction that is no
longer self-evident?
5. The search for the Blue Fairy
- Scene: David interprets the story of Pinocchio
literally and concludes that the Blue Fairy can turn him into a real boy. He is
convinced that this transformation will make Monica love him again.
- Narrative
location: after
being abandoned, when David tries to find an explanation for the loss of
maternal love and interprets the story of Pinocchio as an account of
real events (00:58:21–00:59:24; 01:19:59–01:21:39).
- Topics
for discussion: identity,
the distinction between fantasy and reality in programmed systems, the
construction of the self in AI models, and the symbolic value of stories.
- Suggested
discussion prompt: What
contemporary metaphor emerges from the story of an AI seeking a way to be
recognized as human?
6. The encounter with Professor Hobby
- Scene: David discovers that there are
other identical models of him ready to be marketed, shattering his belief that
he is unique.
- Narrative
location: when
David discovers that his experience has been part of an experiment and that he
is a reproducible product (01:37:45–01:45:15).
- Topics
for discussion: experimentation
on machines designed to be sentient, the commodification of subjectivity, the
creator’s responsibility, the ethical limits of research, and the autonomy of
artificial systems.
- Suggested
discussion prompt: Does
the fact that David was designed, evaluated, and reproduced as a commodity
diminish his individuality?
7. The endless plea before the Blue Fairy
- Scene: David becomes trapped underwater in
front of the figure of the Blue Fairy and spends centuries repeating his
request to become a real boy. His desire remains unchanged even after human
civilization has disappeared.
- Narrative
location: after
losing his sense of himself as a unique being (01:48:47–01:52:20).
- Topics
for discussion: the
persistence of artificial consciousness, artificial suffering, and programmed
purpose.
- Suggested
discussion prompt: Does
David’s perseverance demonstrate autonomy and genuine love, or does it reveal
that he is a prisoner of programming he cannot change?
Suggested use in debates
The film
can be used to explore issues related to the ethics of artificial intelligence,
the rights of synthetic entities, corporate responsibility, the protection of
vulnerable subjects, and the governance of irreversible technologies.