'A.rtificial I.mmortality' Review | Hot Docs 2021

The 2021 Hot Docs Festival will be available for audiences across Canada to stream April 29 to May 9. Hot Docs is the largest documentary focused film festival in North America and the line-up this year is absolutely incredible.

Check out my full coverage of Hot Docs 2021!

A.rtificial I.mmortality (2021)

Director: Ann Shin
Producers: Gerry Flahive, Erica Leedertse, Hannah Donegan

Synopsis: This cinematic documentary explores the latest technological advancements in AI, robotics and biotech, and poses the question: what is the essence of the human mind, and can this be replicated? Or even more unsettling, could we one day meet cloned versions of ourselves – clones which are better, smarter, and immortal?

Review:

Despite the efforts of the cosmetic industry, I don't think most people have an actual problem with getting older. It's an inevitability that we can try to prolong and try to make more comfortable for ourselves, but at the end of the day, when we're gone, we're gone. But seeing our loved ones age is a different story, especially our parents. When the people who once protected us with great ferocity and the ones we saw as titans who could do no wrong become frail and in need of caring, it can be really difficult to accept. So it's only fitting that director Ann Shin begins and ends her exploration of immortality with her father -- an aging man suffering from dementia and living in a retirement home.

In A.rtifical I.mmortality, Shin explores the idea of preserving her memories and consciousness in an android. Working with a team from Ryerson University, she collects photographs and stories to upload to her "mind file" to create her avatar. The documentary explores what technology is available today, where artificial intelligence (AI) is going, and the moral dilemmas behind these advancements.

Shin interviews staunch proponents of AI, including Deepak Chopra, about its marvels and why we should be embracing this technology -- going so far to offer the idea that it is simply a part of the evolutionary process. This perspective is cleverly balanced by the arguments of religious groups who are unsurprisingly very against the idea of living in this world beyond your physical being. I loved how Shin offered both perspectives up without judgment. While many may roll their eyes at a religious group's objections, having consideration for the morality question (religious or not) is an important part of this discussion. Shin not only gives voice to morality, but also the alarming privacy concerns that surround AI. It's only briefly addressed, but given the shorter run-time, it's fantastic that it was given a mention.

This is in part what makes A.rtificial I.mmortality a great documentary: it's an even exploration that raises a lot of questions, and puts forth the arguments for different answers. It is not preachy nor biased. And with Shin's father's story acting as the catalyst for the whole film, there is a lot of heart in this cold topic.

The extent to which artificial intelligence will effect our lives remains to be seen. A.rtificial I.mmortality is a great snapshot of where we are today and where we think it could go in the future. I want to end this review on my favourite quote from the documentary. After Shin showed her two daughters her digital avatar, she asks them, "Would you want to be immortal digitally?". Her eldest, Zara, very intelligently responds, "I don't think you can be. I think even if you are that kind of stuff, part of you is going to fade away."

A.rtificial I.mmortality is available to watch in Canada via Hot Docs until May 9th. It will also be screening at Doc Edge in New Zealand from June 4 to 18.

Thanks to Touchwood PR for the screener!