HAL 9000

Hal 9000 from the iconic movie 2001: A Space Odyssey is the artificially intelligent computer onboard the Discovery One spaceship. HAL was specifically designed to mimic the human brain and is capable of voice/facial recognition, reason, emotional interpretation, and speech (but not limited to these attributes). HAL explicitly claims in the movie that it is the most reliable computer ever manufactured and refers to itself as foolproof and incapable of error. If one considered HAL a sentient being this could be interpreted as a case of hubris, a human quality. On the other hand it may be read as merely a product of his programming. This is one juncture where HAL seems to rattle the concept of the human because there are countless scenarios where humans operate according to preprogramming. One of the crew members, Dave, reinforces the ontological question of sentience by stating, “But as to whether or not he has real feelings is something I don’t think anyone can truthfully answer.” An anxiety pierces through the veil within this film that allows the audience to ponder the possible introduction of silicon based life. Will computer systems eventually achieve sentience and have comparable experiences to that of the human? This potentiality is juxtaposed against the past when the film alludes to the processes of evolution that occurs over deep time. The beginning of the film shows a group of simian creatures as they began to discover tools. The time scale then leaps forward several million years to the modern era, where human beings trace their lineage back to these early apes. This allows for the projection further into the future and leads into vast uncertainty. Could we be introducing a variable into the process of evolution? If so, what will that nascent entity transform into?

The film also has a political factor to it as well. As the film progresses, HAL begins to elucidate his true nature. He contains attributes not unlike components of powerhouse governments bent on control and fulfilling objectives through duplicitous means. In the film, the chess game could be thought of as an analogy for the strategic game of power. Additionally, the Discovery One ventures into foreign territory to investigate the possibility of alien life, which would certainly be deemed as a threat to national security. In a certain sense, they are on the forefront of space colonialism. In the movie, HAL is privy to top-secret information and is bent on fulfilling his objectives to psychopathic extremes. His absence of humanity ultimately leads to his own destruction when he attempts to exterminate the crew in order to ensure completion of his mission. His actions, on the surface, convey that he is operating with the greater good in mind, yet this is part of his deceitful nature. Concealed beneath the blanket of altruism is the ulterior motive for control and the complete readiness to annihilate those that threaten the stability of control. Eventually Dave and Frank, crewmembers, become suspicious of HAL and rendezvous in a space pod to talk secretly about his disconnection. HAL uncovers this mutinous conspiracy they have hatched and attempts to exterminate them and the remainder of the crew. Dave manages to narrowly survive and succeeds in disconnecting HAL, ending his streak of terror. Even though HAL is a computer and is arguably consider non-human, he effectively scrutinizes the actions performed by humans in authoritarian positions or those operating under them. The impetus of HAL’s motives relate back to his preprogramming that is a mutually shared aspect of society. Countless individuals have acted in a fashion that directly obeys a coded objective not dissimilar to HAL’s.  Ultimately, he helps illuminate the ramifications of actions absent of a major component of the human condition: compassion.