The Disturbing Reality of Blade Runner

Blade Runner takes the concept of A.I. to its logical conclusion by merging it with artificial consciousness and biology. Is this the future we’re headed toward?

“Wake up, time to die!”

Leon

When Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner was first brought to the screen in 1982, the notion of “artificial intelligence” as we have come to know it, was a niche subject at best. If you can believe it, the idea of a personal computer in every home (never mind in your pocket) was enough of a novelty for most people that the concept of androids so lifelike that you could barely tell them apart from actual human beings felt about as far-fetched as a lightsaber or a chestburster, despite the film’s low key and distinctly film noir approach to science fiction.

Ah, but what a difference a couple of decades makes. Today your social media feeds are flooded with lifelike AI images of people who don’t exist, swarmed with engagement by bots, depicts video of events that never took place and even music that was never composed by a human. People talk to ChatGPT when they’re lonely. While that’s still an order of magnitude away from putting an indistinguishable artificial intelligence into a similarly indistinguishable biomechanical body, who knows what advances in technology might bring us in another 20 years?

Which brings us to our latest episode, which as you can probably figure out, is putting the concept of replicants from Blade Runner to the test.

Watch the latest episode of Does it Fly? right here…

https://youtu.be/GU8SgYWDaMI

SUGGESTED VIEWING

There’s more to the Blade Runner franchise than you might initially suspect, but for our discussion in this episode we only focused on the two feature films, Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049. Everything you need to know is contained in those, and honestly, there are those among us who think the sequel might surpass the original in some ways.

But if you want to dive into the entire screen franchise in timeline order, we’ve got a handy viewing list for you.

Blade Runner

Blade Runner Black Out 2022 (anime short film)

Blade Runner: Black Lotus (anime TV series)

2036: Nexus Dawn (short film)

2048: Nowhere to Run (short film)

Blade Runner 2049

There are two key parts of the scientific debate surrounding replicants. Let’s start with the physical, because these aren’t mere robots, they’re biological organisms in their own right. Hakeem points to the field of regenerative medicine (perhaps best known to the general public for work with stem cells) for its ability to grow working organs and body parts in lab conditions as the first key to bringing artificial humans to life in a way that would be almost undetectable.

See also: organoids and artificial wombs for some of the more stunning possibilities.

Artificial Consciousness

There’s a difference between artificial intelligence (which is a rapidly evolving field and one we continue to litigate the ethics of as it relates to creativity) and artificial consciousness. The replicants as depicted in Blade Runner, especially the film’s villain, Roy Batty, would seem to have achieved consciousness and an attendant awareness and fear of their own mortality. And there are indeed people studying the possibility of artificial consciousness and the ethical implications that might come with that.

Talk to us when there’s artificial empathy, then we might feel better (and of course, there’s a test for that!).

“Night, Wet, Smoke”

The three key visual ingredients Ridley Scott used to create his sci-fi noir are discussed in detail here.

WANT MORE FROM DOES IT FLY?

For a different look at artificial life, cybernetics, and the intersection between humanity and machine, check out our episode on RoboCop right here!

This isn’t the first Ridley Scott movie we’ve tackled here. Check out our look at the original Alien and the terrifying perfection of the xenomorph right here.