Meet ABE, C3PO's Psychopathic Cousin

By Cindy Davis | Videos | May 1, 2013 |

By Cindy Davis | Videos | May 1, 2013 |

“A society in the early stages of robotics before they understand the dangers they could potentially impose on themselves…” (Rob McLellan)

I tried to warn you people. While you’ve been running around all willy nilly, preparing yourselves for the zombie apocalypse, I have not forgotten. I have not faltered. I’ve assembled a team and even as I type this, they continue their work (the Roomba auto-destruct program), but still…I fear for our future. Did we learn nothing from John Connor? Have we not watched all seventy-five episodes of “Battlestar Galactica” several times over, yet still we pursue automatons who will do our dirty work? Let me tell you, “Ash” is already among us and he may be Jeff Bezos (seriously, keep an eye on your Kindle).

From director Rob McLellan comes yet another cautionary tale terrifying prospect, wherein we are reminded of the responsibility we bear should we continue forward with this path of creation. “If we made a machine that was self aware, that was capable of emotion, would we then say it had a soul?” Frankly, I don’t much think it matters what we say; it matters what that machine thinks and believes about itself.

Meet ABE, a robot who is having trouble dealing with his emotions…

McLellan’s effective short film sprung from an earlier short he entered in last year’s Colchester 48 Hour Film Challenge, Love… And All That:

Not surprisingly, he’s hoping to evolve this great idea by expanding ABE into a full length film after completing his first feature (based on another of his shorts—Rahab).

Here’s an interview with the director:

ABE stars Sam Hoare, Claire Huskisson and Emily Baxter, and provides reason 9,782 we must not continue our forward march with Artificial Intelligence.

Cindy Davis, (Twitter) remains hunkered down with many large magnets.