The 2011 game Deus Ex: Human Revolution takes place in the near future of 2027 where technology is advancing at breakneck speed. Human augmentations or cyborg technologies that replace and enhance body parts are becoming increasingly common, but the ethics and use of the so-called transhuman revolution are frequently debated, with the public divided on the issue. A huge theme of the game is the influence of media in public discourse and how a media piece can manipulate as well as inform. Throughout the game, you become aware of events through watching the news on Picus TV with the newsreporter Eliza Cassan. A series of events eventually leads you to the Picus headquarters, where you finally get to meet this personality which has been one of your main sources of information. Here is where you find out the truth: Eliza is an extremely sophisticated artificial intelligence who was created with the sole purpose of manipulating and controlling mass discourse.
She is meant to guide public opinion to certain ends, as is dictated by people in power.
Eliza represents anxieties that we currently have around mass media. More has been coming to light in recent years about how certain news agencies have been bought and sold to the highest bidder, for example the Koch Brothers and Rupert Murdoch. There seems to be a wide mistrust in the media, and how it only seems to benefit those in power rather than reporting on real issues. Media appears to be a conglomerate that frequently has an agenda, and most everyone agrees at this point that no media source is completely unbiased or doesn't have an agenda. So the use of an AI to represent this sense of powerlessness and overall consipiracy is a pretty direct metaphor for the anxieties around a manipulating media. It's interesting to note that Eliza is also painted as a pawn in her own sense; she didn't choose to be who she is and she is the product of other people's agendas. She doesn't really bring up questions about what it means to be human, but she does bring up questions of responsibility. Can an AI be held responsible for its actions if it was created with the intent of another? Who is responsible in this instance: the creators or the product? Eliza is a victim in this case, along with all the others who are manipulated by the lies of others who want to control information and the media.
She is meant to guide public opinion to certain ends, as is dictated by people in power.
Eliza represents anxieties that we currently have around mass media. More has been coming to light in recent years about how certain news agencies have been bought and sold to the highest bidder, for example the Koch Brothers and Rupert Murdoch. There seems to be a wide mistrust in the media, and how it only seems to benefit those in power rather than reporting on real issues. Media appears to be a conglomerate that frequently has an agenda, and most everyone agrees at this point that no media source is completely unbiased or doesn't have an agenda. So the use of an AI to represent this sense of powerlessness and overall consipiracy is a pretty direct metaphor for the anxieties around a manipulating media. It's interesting to note that Eliza is also painted as a pawn in her own sense; she didn't choose to be who she is and she is the product of other people's agendas. She doesn't really bring up questions about what it means to be human, but she does bring up questions of responsibility. Can an AI be held responsible for its actions if it was created with the intent of another? Who is responsible in this instance: the creators or the product? Eliza is a victim in this case, along with all the others who are manipulated by the lies of others who want to control information and the media.
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