Do Machines have the capability to possess thoughts and emotions?
...onstant progress. But we seldom consider the potential consequences. What if our own creations led to our demise? The irony is almost too obvious to believe: only the medium of cinema could adequately touch on such a subject. But, it is a frightening prospect nonetheless. Personally, I cannot fathom how any electronic mechanism would be able to generate authentic human emotion. Computers function on logic algorithms, and humans do not. One cannot “create” a code or a program that would allow a machine to emote autonomous of that very program; at least, that is what I believe. I’m certain that there are many people in disagreement with this assumption, and perhaps someday I’ll be proven wrong. However, I think that Kubrick’s message in this segment of the film is more philosophical than practical: what if a computer could become “human”. He poses a hypothetical situation that, for me, was incredibly frightening. HAL is programmed with a very human-like interface: he speaks and reasons like a person, however, there is still a very mechanical element to all that he does. HAL, as well as the scientists who created him and the other 9000 series computers, maintains that he is error-proof and that should a problem during the mission arise it could only be attributed to human error. The two captains aboard the spacecraft begin to question HAL’s ability when HAL “misdiagnoses” a failed satellite, and when HAL becomes aware that they intend to terminate his functions HAL then sabotages the mission, killing one of the commanding officers. After termin...