Will Ash REALLY Be Right Back?

In the Episode of Black Mirror, Be Right Back, a woman, Martha, is faced with the moral dilemma of whether or not to reanimate the ideas of her dead boyfriend in the body of an android. At the funeral of her deceased boyfriend, Ash, a friend of hers suggests that she use a software that will mimic him in conversations. At first, Martha refuses, but after her friend signs her up for the program anyways, she finds herself becoming more and more attached to the program, as if it were a real person. Eventually, she is convinced by the software to purchase an android that will look and sound exactly as the old Ash did, but when she receives and animates the robot, she finds herself more freaked out than comforted. As Ash 2 learns small mannerisms and lingo that the original Ash used to use, Martha finds herself more and more attached to the android than she originally wanted to be.

I don’t think that this is a morally sound way to grieve over a person’s death, as it can isolate them from the reality of that person really being gone. In the show, Martha constantly rejects the company and consolation of other LIVE humans just to enjoy the company of the software designed to mimic the actions of her late significant other. She was reached out to by her sister and other friends many times, but ignored their phone calls just to text and talk to this software that was impersonating Ash. Ash 2 was definitely not a sound way of coping, as she directly expressed many times that he wasn’t acting entirely like the original Ash did. Although the program was designed to learn along the way, that is a problem in itself because it doesn’t give her the closure that she needs. Instead, she just kept creating new memories with Ash 2. I think it would have been a good idea to let the robot jump off of the cliff instead of placing it in the attic, because when her daughter was born, instead of learning to grow up without a dad, she became accustomed to the fact that an exact replica of her late father was sitting up in the attic, waiting for her whenever she wanted to see him.

 This film also presented an example of the uncanny valley, as she was extremely uncomfortable with the life-likeness of the android Ash for the first few days of his arrival. She didn’t want to touch him, or even be near him at first because of the fact that she knew that he wasn’t a live human, although he appeared to be such.

Be Right Back... from the dead, literally

"Be Right Back"? Who would’ve thought that meant “Be Right Back from the dead” … literally. In the film, the characters are a married couple, Martha and Ash. At the beginning of the film, Ash is completely indulged in his phone, not paying attention to some of the things Martha says. One day Ash leaves to run an errand, and never returns home, which worries Martha. She then finds out that her husband died, so a funeral is held, and she’s torn into pieces. She seems to be grieving normally at first, the normal depression, but one of her friends mentioned a program that allowed Martha to communicate with Ash, even though he was no longer living, and had signed her up for it. Martha is hesitant at first, but then when she does decide to open the program, she becomes addicted to it, because she was feeling like ash was actually still there. The program starts out as just an automated webchat that is programed to respond like Ash, which isn’t too strange. The next step is automated phone calls with an imitation of Ash’s voice, which to most viewer still wouldn’t classify as weird or creepy, then the final step is an actual robotic body that takes the exact form of Ash’s prior appearance… now that’s what was creepy. The uncanny resemblance was surreal, and the fact that he performed everyday functions like a normal human, is mind puzzling in a way. It’s puzzling to the human mind because we know it’s not the real Ash, but somehow this robot is doing functions we would, but then again sometimes Martha would have to tell him how the real Ash would act, and then the robot would respond in that manner. At one point in the episode, Martha realized that it was not really ash, and she has a break down towards the robot. The whole process didn’t seem like a healthy way to grieve a death, because in a way Martha never really let go of Ash in a sense, even if at the end he’s just up in the attic. Watching the whole film and how Martha interacted with the robot was quite strange, especially at the end, where she put him up in the attic, but still allowed her daughter to visit “Ash”. Why would she even bring robot Ash into her daughter’s life if it’s not the real thing? Overall, I feel as if we had these types of robots, many would be uncomfortable, and many would also agree that you wouldn’t be letting go of that person. Sure, you’d get the comfort for a while, but then come back to reality and realize that it is not an actual person.

The Uncanny of the Uncanny Valley

The Uncanny Valley is a phenomenon that still befuddles me still trying to examine it now how I did not recognize this earlier. As Mori said "... as the appearance and motions..." of a robot become more human like, the creepier it becomes and the more of a negative response it will receive from real humans. But if it looks and acts completely like humans do, it leaves the valley? This was seen in the recent film with Ash in the beginning being feared by the woman and every unhuman trait he presented made her more and more uncomfortable. This goes to show that the uncanny valley can be used and personifies quite well how we view androids, cyborgs and robots today. For example, look at Gemenoid DK being one of the creepiest things I've ever seen because it appears ad speaks like me but I know it's a robot and that is quite uncanny. This falls under the Das Unheimlische with robots such as Gemenoid and Ash being both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. How can something be both at same the time though? This can be seen in Johnson's Addendum to the Uncanny Valley with things that we are not familiar with to the left (Non-Human) and things that we are used to on the right (Human) with the crazed human like robots being in the middle of that and scare the hell out of us. Ironically, this does not work in reverse though. There is not a human out there that is so robot like that they can fall into the uncanny valley. Trust me, I've looked up a ton of videos on YouTube and Google but even the best dance artists and performers could not give the same effect on a mind than that Gemenoid and others like it. So that all that had me thinking... what is going to happen when they become so life like that we will not be able to distinguish them from actual humans? Why does this even matter? Will they have the same rights as us? Will they have the same opportunity that we have to apply for government services and jobs? Will even know who is a real human and who is not...? Does matter if they are the same? These are the important questions we have to ask ourselves before we take this too far. Honestly, I feel like making robots this sophisticated and having them act and be so much like us is appalling. It is like were playing God and that's a line we should not cross. Human beings are things that are special from everything else in this world not something you just create. But the uncanny valley is something that spreads even away from just robots but everyday life. I have seen the uncanny valley at work with race relations with, I believe, young African American males when it comes to fear of them just passing you by on the street and there are studies that prove this. With white males being something we are "familiar" with. Same can be said with transgender people with those who change their gender being looked at through the uncanny valley. This can be used to recognize a variety of social problems and work on fixing them. 

Developing Android Technology

Interestingly enough, during the film Be Right Back, I did not experience the "uncanny valley." Ash 1 and Ash 2 are completely identical, the only difference is we know for a fact that Ash 2 is a robot because Ash 1 is dead. The only part of the film that was a bit unnerving was the fact that Martha attempted to replace Ash 1 with Ash 2, which leads me to believe the development of such human-like technology could pose several mental health concerns. Because Martha invested in the technology that put digital Ash 2 into a human-like android, Martha never truly got past her grief. If she had truly healed, she would have completely disposed of Ash 2 and accepted the fact that nothing could bring him back. Instead, she hid Ash 2 in her attic and allowed her child to visit him on the weekends.

Personally, I could never invest in said technology after losing a loved one. As grim as it sounds, when I lose a loved one, I would prefer to allow them to live on only in my memories. I don’t save keepsakes, and I don’t attend funerals. I would prefer to move on with my life as quickly as possible because no one (and nothing) would ever replace a person so near and dear to my heart. The film also posed some very interesting questions, such as: How did Martha introduce Ash 2 to her daughter and what does her relationship with Ash 2 consist of? Clearly, Martha’s daughter knows Ash 2 is not her father because she did not call him “dad,” she called him Ash. Does she think of Ash 2 as just a walking memory of her father, or does she think of him as her fairy godfather that cannot leave the attic? The world may never know.

Even though I am opposed to purchasing an android for grieving purposes, I would love to purchase an android as a personal assistant. We already have artificial intelligence advanced enough to tweet like an actual human being, but imagine a world where you have your very own android that knows you so well, it could write your papers! No one would be able to tell the difference between your papers and your android’s! Imagine having an android that looks, thinks, and reacts so much like yourself that you could have your android show up to class, possibly record the lecture with its eyes, and take notes for you when you’re in bed with a nasty hangover. The possibilities are endless.

Martha's Psychological Warfare

I am a huge fan of the Netflix series "Black Mirror;" it gives a unique take on alternate events that would occur if technology continued to evolve over time. The "Be Right Back" episode was an episode that caught my attention: I was intrigued at how Martha, Ash's widow, handled his death. It was a three-step process in being able to communicate with "Ash" even though the real Ash was killed: first, through a messaging app in which a simulation of Ash (based on a collection of memories he shared with Martha) was able to message Martha, emulating his personality. Then, Martha was able to talk to him over the phone with the simulation (Ash 2.0) sounding exactly like Ash 1.0. Finally, the coping process evolved into Martha getting an android replica of Ash 1.0 which looked strangely like him (exact biological characteristics). This version of Ash was able to move around and speak as if he were human but was not able to show emotion unless Martha (his administrator) told him if it was something that the real Ash would do. For example, when Martha told him to jump into the water, thus killing himself, he was willing to do so, but she also let him know that the real Ash would question Martha upon demanding that he jumps in the water. Suddenly, Ash 2.0 started to show emotions toward her. 

Martha using Ash 2.0 as a coping mechanism for Ash 1.0's death is an example of having too much of a good thing. Over time, Martha starts to enjoy the company of Ash 2.0 less, even though she was excited to be able to communicate with Ash 2.0 at first. This is because Ash 2.0 has a major flaw: he looks freakishly like Ash 1.0 and sounds like him, but he is not able to show any emotion unless told to do so, which drives Martha crazy. I think this flaw is a good thing because if he were to have looked, sounded, AND had an actual personality like Ash 1.0, it would've been too much for Martha to handle (the "uncanny valley"). Martha was not dealing with Ash 1.0's death in a healthy manner, in my opinion. Some people in life are just irreplaceable, no matter how striking the resemblance from their android doppelgangers to themselves may be. Even though it is normal for a person mourning the death of a loved one to have a strong desire for that person to come back, it is best to reminisce of the memories that the person shared with their loved one and move forward in life. If a similar situation like Martha's happened in real life, then it would potentially give humans an excuse to replace deceased loved ones with android clones, which would then be difficult for humans because they would be forced to create new memories with the android. 

Modern Day Frankenstein.

In the early 1800's it was considered horrifying for someone to create life from the memories and remains of someone who was once considered dead. In the movie "Be Right Back", the future that people live in find it comforting to have someone brought back from the dead. The company that recreates a model of people who have passed away play God in a way. They create new life from old memories and archives of someone's private life. The director portrayed early in the movie how technology makes us non-observant of our surrounding life. In the first scene Ash's wife is stuck in the pouring ray for some time while he just sits on his phone. Instead of paying attention to his outside life he is so caught up in the world that is going on inside his phone. Later his wife takes on the same attributes. She is so caught up in talking to the Ash that was recreated for her. She even goes as far as declining a phone call from her very alive mother who wanted to talk to her. After his death she is so caught up in her work with technology that she misses a beautiful day outside. The view outside of the window was so beautiful and sunny, and there were hills that seemed to go on for miles but she didn't even notice. When she finally received Ash number 2 it made her very uncomfortable at first. When she became more comfortable with Ash number 2 she tried to do things with it that she thought Ash number 1 would enjoy. She soon became so obsessed with the second Ash that she went as far as to have sex with it. When she woke up the next morning, it didn't sleep all night. This shows how humans and technology are different. Humans need rest and rehabilitation while technology doesn't, it can stay on forever. At the end of the movie she had a falling out with the technology. She realized how technology can only copy emotion is has no understanding of sadness or happiness. It is unnatural for technology to try and portray something and say it is in fact what it is portraying. Technology can't be human because it doesn't have a spirit like humans do. It can't understand sadness, it can only copy it. Just like Ash 2, technology shows no deeper emotion. It is all 2-D, it has no deeper meaning or purpose of living like humans do. It would be wrong if this technology existed.

Don't Hide Me in the Attic

When a loved one passes, it is a hard feeling to come to terms with. It is "normal" and "natural" in today's world to keep ashes from the person, photos, voicemails and more; however, at which point will it become "natural" to have a robot mimic the passed on loved one? Mori came up with this "Uncanny Valley" that basically predicts that as robot continues to look more like a human, there will be a big drop toward our affection toward it because it will look like a zombie or corpse. There is an exception to it though. As technology continues to rocket like it has over the last couple of years, the likeness of humans for the robot will be indistinguishable. The more human it looks, the more us humans like it. Not only will it look like a human, but it will behave like a human and be able to mimic the personality of a loved one.

When first gazing upon Ash 2, I felt exactly like Martha. We do not exactly know if we can trust this type of thing because one reason a person is considered a human is if he or she is autonomous or self-governing, and that is something that Ash 2 lacks. He has to be given commands or he asks the girl for certain things and he has to get approval from her. There may be a set of “rules” that need to be placed if technology is going to advance like this. Another point I thought about is this: if people continue to “bring people back from the dead” then how are we going to be able to appreciate death. That may sound weird, but think about it. We appreciate death by saying that a person does not have to suffer anymore and can be liberated from this terrible place we call “the world”. We are not going to be able to know what it feels like to miss someone; therefore, bringing back a loved one is not going to be good because I always heard: “leave the dead dead”. It is extremely unhealthy to me because in the end Martha kept Ash 2 in the attic and visited him when she missed him. That may sound similar to going to visit someone’s grave, but at the grave site the person has already came to terms with the person dying. Is bringing a loved one back in the form of a robot healthy? I think not.

Please Hurry Back - Logan Lurry

The Netflix show entitled Black Mirror aired an episode entitled “Be Right Back” that will absolutely have you either cringing or praying for the future. The episode starred Haley Atwell (Marvel’s Agent Carter, Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger) and Domnhall Gleeson (Star Wars The Last Jedi, Goodbye Christopher Robin) as a couple that has their lives changed forever once Gleeson’s character is killed in a car crash. Atwell’s character deals with the grief in what some would believe to be an unhealthy style, a lifelike android. While some fear that this technology is downright scary, mostly thanks to the Terminator series, I for one have a certain set of things that I would love to see this type of technology used for.

Over the past few years, the world has lost some of the greatest musical performers ever. The list is amazing, from Michael Jackson to Prince. Now just imagine, one day in the future, you could get the opportunity to see Michael Jackson perform his once-planned This Is It concert. Imagine being able to once again break down in tears to Prince performing his hit classic “Purple Rain.” Can’t quite wrap your mind around this, well let me enlighten you on how this type of possibility is technically already here. Think back to the Billboard Music Awards of the year 2014. Sony Music had just released the posthumous Michael Jackson album Xscape, and in correlation with its release, at the award show, the world was treated to a hologram performance of Michael Jackson. If you haven’t been living under a rock, you would also know that this isn’t the first ever performance of a hologram. Legendary gangsta-rap artist Eric Wright, better known by his stage name Eazy-E, was captured with a hologram performance as well. These holograms are used to capture the essence of these performers for one more amazing spectacle. I personally loved to watch the hologram performance of Michael Jackson, and it got me thinking, what if they used the hologram to recreate the This Is It. Think about the majesty of such technological advances, but that possibility has been extended thanks to the ideas of “Be Right Back.” Instead of using a hologram, which would have to use pre-recorded tracks, an android could sing live with the same voice that Michael Jackson graced audiences with for years. It is quite true when I saw that this technology is coming, whether you are ready or not. I for one hope it hurries back…

Recap and thoughts on Be Right Back

Recap

In the episode of Black Mirror, Be Right Back, we see a woman, Martha, who lost her boyfriend, Ash. Martha finds out soon after his death, that she's pregnant and will be raising the child alone. Her friend, Sarah, at the funeral recommend her trying a software that mimics her boyfriend. At first, Martha refuses, but then gives in to the software, when given the software files that mimics Ash's voices. Martha soon fall in love with the software by using it daily and giving it more files to mimic Ash more. Martha soon reaches a certain point where she wants to get more in depth with the software. She takes certain commands from the software that leads her to buying a android body for the software to use.

As soon as the software is in the android's body, Martha soon becomes freak out by the human-like features that the software has that mimics Ash. As my philosopher professor explained, people get weirded out by a software mimicking some human detailed features because of the "uncanny valley." We get use to artificial intelligence software performing human tasks until it gets to the certain point where the software looks like a human performing their daily tasks. People get weirded out more knowing that it's a software rather than a actual human. Martha is satisfied with the software until she realizes that the software cannot mimic Ash 100% perfectly. Martha then becomes upset and try to compare the software ash to the real ash. Next thing she does is try to get rid of the android. In one of the scene, the android was willing to job off the cliff for Martha. This of course goes against the 2 of the 3 laws for a robot created by Isaac Asima.

The robot would be breaking law 1 and 3 which says that the robot should not do self-harm to itself and must protect itself.  After Martha has this conflicts with the software, she then put the software in the attic with other lost memories of the real Ash.

Thoughts

In my opinion, Martha should've move on and not gotten the software.  It's better to move on instead of holding on to something. The more you hold onto something, the more your grief and stresses out. Martha got to the point where she holds onto Ash memories so much that she wanted to make a clone of Ash. Don't get me wrong, death is a challenging thing to cope with and it's hard to accept the fact that the person is gone. But it doesn't mean to go out and buy a software to regain memories of the person, you'll never move on and you'll always self-doubt or keep grieving over the person. Eventually your demands will go up for the software which will soon stress you out.

At the end, Martha begin stressing how the robot wasn't the real Ash and start becoming overwhelm the more she stared at the software in the android body. It's nice to keep memories of a loved one but we shouldn't go overboard and get an android body to revive a dead person's memories. Some people view it as disrespect because we want the person to rest as much as possible. At that point, you play with people religious beliefs. If we live in a society where we can take people's memories and transport it to an android body, then the world will be overpopulated and it could turn chaos. Crime rates would increase because you can just bring the person back in android body and restore their memories.

In my opinion, I wouldn't get an android to mimic my family or friends but if it becomes a big trend then I may have reconsidered. To have a android mimic my family member will be beyond crazy and awkward. Who would put their mom in the attic when they are done using her? It wouldn't feel right at all. What happens when you pass away? Will the androids buy another android for my body or will they just let me rest in peace? At this point, androids would be the new species while humans become extinct.

With the androids being the new specie, will the laws for robots be change by then? It's a lot of questions to ask when you see androids or "post humans" becoming the new dominating race. I wonder would robots be advance enough to clone another robot, if so, when will they acknowledge that it's becoming an issue?