Puppets of a Digital Brain
Puppets of a Digital Brain is (yes!!! is!!!) a not so short film that explains the technology behind current generative AI systems, in particular Large Language Models (LLMs) in an accessible and attractive way, and explores and explains the good and bad sides of current AI technologies. The goal is to make this information accessible to the wider public, such that they are better informed to hopefully make more informed choices when using such systems, and shape the development of future AI systems that respect ethical principles in development, training and usage.
Check out the IMDB page and the trailer!
and if you like it, consider helping us finance the project
Synopsis
Driven by a noble desire to help scientists keep up with the never-ending tidal wave of research papers, Dr. Mal, a brilliant but socially oblivious researcher, sets out to build a language model. His creation, though trained using a rather simple idea, develops surprising capabilities. Before dr. Mal can throw on the digital seatbelts -- filters, guardrails, and safeguards -- the model slips into the public sphere.
Convinced by investors with dreams of world domination, and his own dreams of fame, dr. Mal tweaks the system to seem more human. It talks like us. It seems to think like us. It even refers to itself as I. The public eats it up. It spreads like wildfire, powerful, persuasive, and dangerously unfiltered. The dark sides of the system -- its unethical training, exploitation of severely underpaid workers, the effect on the compute requirements on the environment -- are hidden from the end users.
As the model becomes part of daily life, the consequences start rolling in, some inspiring, others deeply troubling. The system, after all, can’t be held responsible. The burden falls on those behind it: the idealistic scientist who skipped the ethical fine print, the financiers who pushed for their own goals, and the users who bend the tool for harm, deliberately or from ignorance.
In a world transformed by his own invention, Dr. Mal undergoes a transformation of his own. Once detached and naive, he becomes a vocal advocate for digital literacy, urging society to use these powerful tools wisely.
The film tracks this dramatic journey, reminding us that when it comes to AI, the conversation is not just technical, it’s human. And we all have a part to play.
Motivation
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the topic of important debates, and the cause of major changes in our working environment and society. These debates are conducted at a very abstract level, with a focus on the evolution of AI systems, while the technology behind AI systems is disregarded, it is not questioned, and does not inform the discussions. The fact that these systems are called "intelligent" leads the public to make assumptions based on their own understanding of the term and their experiences.
These assumptions are dangerous, because they influence users to endow these systems with capabilities they do not (yet) possess, and as a result, to trust them implicitly. This attitude is not justified and, more importantly, can have negative impacts from a small scale – using erroneous information in a homework or report – to a very large one – influencing the financial, juridical and social decisions. These are relevant and urgent problems that can, and already do, affect many lives at present, unlike the abstract discussion about reaching AI singularity -- when AI systems become more intelligent than people – at some hypothetical point in the future.
Our project aims to bring to the public information about the technology behind generative AI systems, like chatGPT, in an attractive and easily understandable way, through a short film. It is very important that people understand this technology, the ethical, moral and ecological implications of building and using them, their potential for appropriate but also missuse, such that they can take informed decisions about whether, when and how they interact with these systems, and how much trust they should place in their outputs.
Selective bibliography
Making this film takes advantage of the more than 20 years of first-hand experience in the fields of natural language processing and machine learning of our scientific consultant, and uses as inspiration numerous published interviews on AI of prominent researchers in the field, and on non-fiction publications from respected researchers in the field of natural language processing, machine learning and AI, and journalists.
Books
Stuart Russell: Human Compatible
Emily Bender and Alex Hannah: The AI Con
Karen Hao: Empire of AI
Interviews
Yoshua Bengio: The Catastrophic Risks of AI -- and a safer path
Munk debate on AI: Yoshua Bengio & Max Tegmark vs. Melanie Mitchell & Yann LeCun
Geoffrey Hinton: 60 minutes interview
The team
SciFilmIt is collaborating with Persona Association from Cluj-Napoca to make this short film. Here is the enthusiastic team that is working hard to make this film happen:
Project director and scientific consultant: Vivi Nastase (researcher in Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning, with more than 20 years experience)
Producer/Director: Rareș H. Stoica
Director of communication and production, screenplay assistant: Silvia Hamza
Screenplay: Vivi Nastase, Rareș H. Stoica, Asis. Silvia Hamza
Scenography: Cătălin Mocan, Asis./ Graphic Designer, Karin Vanessa Biriș
DoP: Andrei Giurgiuman, Rareș H. Stoica, 1Ad. Vlad Șandor
Music: Cristian Mihai Popescu, Asis. Karin Vanessa Biriș
Executive producer: Asociația Persona (Cluj-Napoca)
Associate producer: SciFilmit (Geneva, Switzerland)
Production company: Persona Media Production (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
Distribution: Festivals, educational events, media platforms