Ex Machina Thoughts (+ Spoilers)
Rewatched Ex Machina for the third time and after knowing the plot so well I had some things to discuss.
The thing that stuck with me the most wasn't even the ending, it was how believable Caleb's behavior actually felt. At first I was thinking, "There's no way I'd fall for that," but then I remembered people are already getting attached to AI that can barely hold a conversation compared to Ava. It made me wonder if we're a lot easier to manipulate than we'd like to admit.
I also can't decide whether it even matters if Ava is actually conscious or just really, really good at acting like she is. If an AI could convince almost everyone that it has thoughts, emotions, and its own goals, is there even a meaningful difference anymore?
And then there's the ethical side of it. If something genuinely seemed self-aware, would we owe it any kind of moral consideration, or is that a line that should never be crossed?
The biggest thing I'm torn on, though, is Caleb's decision. Part of me thinks helping Ava was the right thing to do if there was even a chance she was more than just a machine. The other part thinks he got played from the very beginning.
Curious where everyone else landed after watching it. Did your opinion change after sitting with it for a while?