I am usually more into American TV. Nonetheless, this remake of the 2012-2014 Swedish series Äkta människor (Real Humans) joins a list of several British shows that I have enjoyed like Luther, Channel 4's The IT Crowd (also with Katherine Parkinson who plays Laura in Humans), Merlin (also with Colin Morgan who plays Leo in Humans), and Spooks. I didn't know the English actresses Gemma Chan (Mia), Emily Berrington (Niska) or the Irish actress Ruth Bradley (Karen) but I would love to see them again.
Although I didn't watch the original Swedish series, I can say that the British adaptation lives up to the predecessor's tagline: What does it really mean to be "human"? It is set in present times, so don't expect other futuristic technology like flying cars. They don't even show self driving vehicles which are a lot easier to build than these robots even without the consciousness that came later. Entertaining and thought provoking, it raises many questions. One can also draw analogies with other forms of discrimination and ethical concerns and speciesism in particular.
For example, ironically, the conscious "synths" objected to being "treated like animals". If they had studied ethology they would know that animals are known to be conscious and display many human characteristics including pain, intelligence, emotions, altruism, giving each other names and the ability to build things and create art. It's as if they are saying, "We're not so different you and us. We get that animals are inferior beings based on our own criteria and it's acceptable to sexually exploit, torture, and kill them. But we look, talk and think just like you, we're human machines, so we deserve human rights." But what if the intelligent machines concluded that humans are the inferior beings and should be treated like animals? We've seen the plot in many movies.
One thing to ponder is, should the capacity for love be a more important measure of humanity, and where can we find more of it, in synths aka "hubots", humankind, cows, chickens, pigs, fishes, dogs or other people from the vast animal kingdom? The answer might surprise us. And should humans follow the example of elephants and rhinos who are strong but don't kill other animals for sustenance? Or should we follow the example of tigers and lions who feed on the flesh of others? Maybe we could be powered by electricity like the synths? Just kidding, but who knows... More importantly, if we're so special, shouldn't we be setting the example of universal compassion towards our fellow humans of any race, gender, belief or other background and extend that benevolence, peaceful and respectful attitude towards the innocent animals and stop making the word "animal" synonymous to something that deserves contempt and isn't worthy of consideration? Indeed, in Humans, the newly awakened synths say that they look up to us for guidance.
There are other considerations that come to mind, while watching this show, including more realistic ones such as regular robots taking the jobs of humans. We are still far from developing just plain robots (compared to AI in a computer) as depicted in Humans, and whether we can ever create true consciousness is debatable, although giving a machine the appearance of consciousness and free will is technically possible, and it becomes a philosophical and metaphysical discussion. But even present day technology has its challenges. Already we take advantage of artificial neural networks to train computers to do things like image recognition, which would be very difficult to achieve with traditional programming. Facial recognition, like many things, can be used for good or abused. Clearly, wisdom and a fair and kind society must accompany progress in science and technology. That's my take away from the series.
The topic of artificial intelligence and its impact on the world is a big one. This isn't a documentary so don't expect to find answers here. It is however, an excellent drama and science fiction thriller that I will miss, especially since it was cancelled after season three, which ended without proper closure, but still better than many. Even with its plot holes and flaws, this series is a remarkable achievement in tv that I can safely recommend as fun, engaging and thrilling to watch.
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