^TagHBO

The Flow of Time: A Close-Up Portrait of an Incomplete Humanoid Android Covered in White Porcelain Skin, Blue Eyes, and Glowing Internal Parts.

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
August 12, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
AI, Dystopian, Gary Varner, HBO, Max, Movies and TV, Robots, Sci Fi, Science fiction, Westworld}

Westworld Episode 9 Review

_{Bernard learns the truth} _{Gary Varner

August 12, 2023

6

Arts & Culture}

This episode begins with Maeve being interrogated by Bernard because she had a violent flashback and slit the throat of one of the other robots. At first, she tries to lie to Bernard, but he quickly checks her programming and realizes Felix had been tinkering with her code. It looks like Maeve is finally caught, but then she realizes that Bernard is also a robot. She confronts Bernard about this but quickly learns that he doesn’t know what he is. Thinking fast, she uses her new voice command ability and freezes Bernard in place. Then she tells him the truth. Bernard is convinced and lets Maeve return to the park where she recruits the two bandits she helped in the Read More ›

Summer Storm, Monument Valley, Navajo Nation, Utah, USA

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
July 8, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Arts and Culture, Fantasy, HBO, Native Americans, Nihilism, Robots, Science fiction, Season One Westworld, The Last Jedi, Westworld}

Westworld: Episode 4 Review

_{If nothing matters, then why are we doing this?} _{Gary Varner

July 8, 2023

7

Arts & Culture}

Episode three spent a great deal of time simply building the characters and world but had one good scene that explored some interesting ideas about consciousness. Episode Four has a lot more action and much less depth. It does; however, feed us some nihilistic nonsense along the way, and I couldn’t help but wonder why. In the first scene, we return to a glass room where Bernard is once again talking to Dolores. She expresses concern about her world, and this seems to be the first time Bernard has heard her communicating thoughts that are somewhat independent of her programming. So, he gives her a wooden toy he calls The Maze and tells her that if she can find the Read More ›

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post

Author
News
Date
July 6, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

Tagged
Acton Institute, AI, Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT, Google, HBO, hollywood, Lawsuits, Movies and TV, Writers Guild of America}

Maybe Hollywood Had it Coming?

_{When TV production becomes this mechanical and impersonal, why shouldn't studios opt for AI?} _{News

July 6, 2023

2

Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture}

The writers’ strike in Hollywood continues. In May, the Writers Guild of America started protesting low wages and the potential threat of artificially generated scripts. Large Language Models (LLMs) have only improved in generating text, raising concerns among writers. However, according to an insightful article from Auguste Meyrat of the Acton Institute, Hollywood has been developing a culture that welcomes AI-generated content with its tendency to pressure writers to fit a formulaic narrative structure instead of encouraging them to pursue real creativity and collaboration. Meyrat writes, All this virtually guarantees the use of AI-generated screenplays. After all, if producing a movie is now effectively the same as producing a widget on an assembly line, the human element can be dispensed Read More ›

Building A Human Head In A Directionesque World

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
July 1, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
AI, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), Consciousness, Gary Varner, HBO, Mental properties, mind-body dualism, Robots, Sci-Fi Saturday, TV and Movies, Westworld}

Westworld: Episode 3 Review

_{Here we get to the theory of consciousess} _{Gary Varner

July 1, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Philosophy of Mind}

Not too much happens in episode three. It builds off the events set up in episode two. But there is one particular scene that has a couple of interesting ideas we’re going to explore. First, a quick recap of the episode. Dolores hides the gun she found in a dresser drawer, and eventually asks Teddy to teach her to shoot. He does, but unfortunately, not for very long because Dr. Ford has now given him something Teddy’s never had before: a backstory. Ford gives Teddy a nemesis named Wyatt. Teddy was once a part of his gang, and while riding with the outlaw, he committed horrible crimes. Therefore, Teddy is on a quest for redemption and is resolved to finish Read More ›

Colorado river with desert landscape glowing in Utah near moab with moon

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
June 24, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
AI, Arts and Culture, Consciousness, Gary Varner, HBO, Max, Movies and TV, Robert J. Marks, Robots, Science fiction, Westworld}

Westworld: Episode 2 Review

_{The whole point of the show is to explore a theory of consciousness} _{Gary Varner

June 24, 2023

6

Arts & Culture}

In episode one, several robots break down. It appears they are accessing memories thanks to an unexpected update, which causes the robots to glitch and seize up, unable to communicate. The updated robots are recalled and the worst of them are decommissioned. In episode two, Dolores wakes up, hearing Bernard’s voice in the middle of the night. She goes outside, and it’s later revealed that she finds a gun buried in the dirt. After we’ve seen Dolores rise from her bed thanks to Bernard’s call, we meet William. He and his future brother-in-law are visiting the park. This is William’s first time in Westworld, and he isn’t excited to be there. He’s humoring his future relative. Episode two continues in Read More ›

Wallpaper of cordyceps fungi, realistic detail photo macro, illustration, like the movie the last of us,

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
March 13, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
HBO, Pedro Pascal, Science fiction, The Last of Us}

The Last of Us, Episode 3 (Part I)

_{This episode serves as a bad omen when it comes to writers’ willingness to stick to the script} _{Gary Varner

March 13, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

In episode two, Tess sacrifices herself after being bitten, and in episode three, we find Joel and Ellie grieving over her death. This scene is another example of the actors overplaying the anger when the tone should be more somber. Joel is hesitant to talk to Ellie until Ellie insists that Tess’s death wasn’t her fault, and that Joel and Tess made their own choices. Now, there isn’t anything wrong with the scene necessarily, but in the first two episodes, it’s already apparent that the HBO adaptation is having a difficult time establishing the father-daughter dynamic between Ellie and Joel that the game is known for. This scene only adds to that problem. However, this might not be an issue Read More ›