While Depp's character passionately talks about artificial intelligence, Freeman's seems to be wary as he questions if the rapidly-growing technology will be the path to annihilation.
- Dec 20, 2013
AceShowbiz - "Transcendence", a sci-fi thriller executive produced by Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, has released two teasers. One has Johnny Depp giving an elaborate description on the concept of transcendence, and the other features a narration delivered by Morgan Freeman.
"For 130,000 years, our capacity for reason has remained unchanged," Depp says. "The combined intellect of the neuroscientists, engineers, mathematicians, pales in comparison to even the most basic A.I. Once online a sentient machine will quickly overcome the limits of biology."
"In a short time, its analytical power will be greater than the collective intelligence of every person born in the history of the world. Some scientists refer to this as the singularity. I call it transcendence."
In another video, Freeman states, "For 2 million years, the human brain has evolved more than any species in existence. But what if all our knowledge, all our accomplishments, and all our achievements could be learned-in mere minutes. What if humanities next evolution wasn't human at all. What happens when artificial intelligence becomes self aware. Is it the key to immortality or is it the path to annihilation."
Depp plays an artificial intelligence researcher named Dr. Will Caster who strives to create a machine that possesses sentience and collective intelligence. But he does not just want to create, he desires to become part of the new technology. As his goal to acquire knowledge becomes one to acquire power, he becomes unstoppable.
The movie is supported by Rebecca Hall, Kate Mara, Cillian Murphy and Paul Bettany. Written by newcomer Jack Paglen, the story appeared on the 2012 Black List, a list of Hollywood's most anticipated unproduced screenplays. It's due for U.S. release on April 18, 2014.
