Slaves to Technology: the futuristic tech of Humans

[Glory]

I thought this thread might be a nice place to talk about the futuristic technological aspects of Humans. I'm sure that we will eventually see more advanced technology on this show then just the synths. 

 

The Mattie character might be involved with that - assuming she really is a brilliant computer programmer. 

 

 

[bookcat]

So far, the major tech difference seen is the synths. The phones and computers and cars look like they do now. It seems like the show is set either only 10 years tops in the future or in an alt universe where the first synths were introduced around 2000.

 

There are probably early adopter snobs, in any case.

[maczero]

The incongruent technology is the main reason I can't get into this show.  We're nowhere near producing androids that look and operate like synths.  By the time we get there other consumer technology will also be considerably more advanced.  At least with "Almost Human" you had a futuristic looking world and culture to go along with the humanoid robots. 

[henripootel]

I don't mind the super-advanced synths so much as their super-unadvanced batteries.  I mean who really knows about their energy budget but they seem like the moral equivalent of a Tesla that craps out after 20 miles.  

[John Potts]

I have to agree I find it odd that it's set "Now" (or at least, Now-ish) since we're nowhere near producing realistic androids. The best we can do is Honda's ASIMO, but you'd never mistake him for a real human and I doubt many people would want to fuck it (but I'm sure there are some!). I don't see why it couldn't be set in (say) 2050 and just handwave things like cars and phones being wrong, or at least rather implausible.

[Athena]

I have to agree I find it odd that it's set "Now" (or at least, Now-ish) since we're nowhere near producing realistic androids. The best we can do is Honda's ASIMO, but you'd never mistake him for a real human and I doubt many people would want to fuck it (but I'm sure there are some!). I don't see why it couldn't be set in (say) 2050 and just handwave things like cars and phones being wrong, or at least rather implausible.

 

I think TPTB minimised all the other future aspects to focus on the characters, the androids/robots, and those themes rather than get into world building. It would also push their CGI or production further if they made even more technology. To me, the show is set in an alternate universe where robot technology was the most advanced for whatever reasons. I have no issue with this because the show has many aspects of being a character drama.

[Cranberry]

Yeah, they refer to it as a "parallel present" on the Channel 4 site.

[Mabinogia]

I always saw it as more of an alternate universe than a future world. In that sense, it's never bothered me that they are using Surface tablets and talking to robo-people. It's our world if scientists had put more time and effort into artificial intelligence. Honestly, the show is strong enough that I never gave it a thought, that the Synths were too futuristic for the world of the show.

[SlovakPrincess]

My one quibble with the show is that every synth so far has a unique face. Wouldn't there be a much more limited range of synths faces, just for factory product line efficiency?

But it's early in the series, so maybe synths will eventually start bumping into other synths with the same face "model".

[henripootel]

Yeah, they refer to it as a "parallel present" on the Channel 4 site.

BBC does a fine job with this idea, focusing on one technological change to highlight its impact.  Black Mirror is an outstanding example of this, or should I say several examples as each episode stands alone and focuses on something different.  'White Christmas' is especially devastating, although 'Be Right Back' is probably more on point for our present purposes.

[Zanne]

My one quibble with the show is that every synth so far has a unique face. Wouldn't there be a much more limited range of synths faces, just for factory product line efficiency?

But it's early in the series, so maybe synths will eventually start bumping into other synths with the same face "model".

 

Yes, they should have a limited selection of facial designs if this is early tech.

 

I was thinking today that we haven't seen any child synths. Leo said his father made the aware synths to be his friends, which makes it a little odd to create adults as friends for a child. We know that some were created to fill a specific need in Leo's family - caretaker, sex partner - but Leo's father could have made a couple that looked more Leo's age, even if he would have eventually aged out of them.

 

This lack of children synths tells us a couple of things (aside from the fact that the show didn't want to delve into the mess of what that could mean). First, that the synths were intended to fit in the workforce and we've seen that in the jobs they've been placed in - farm laborer, nanny, hospice care/nurse, sex trade. Adults work, children do not. Second, that society supposedly has not yet reached the point where the synths are commonplace enough that people are requesting an individualized design. For example, cell phones and their covers. Everyone buys similar tech, but shows it off in different ways - a hot pink or a bedazzled tiger skin case, etc. I'm choosing to ignore the many different faces of the synths because I realize it's a limitation of needing many actors and a small budget for special effects, but you can't tell me there isn't a socialite somewhere in this world who wouldn't want to show off her cherubic 3-foot tall synth butler whose only job is to bring her mimosas. It's possible there's a law in this universe against creating a synth that isn't adult-sized, but I missed it if it were mentioned and the society as a whole doesn't seem that forward-thinking. If there were any time to bring that idea up, it would have been when Leo's dad was creating his friends.

[SlovakPrincess]

Perhaps because Leo was about 13 or 14 when he died, his dad made young adult synths for his friends, that he could "grow into"?

[wayne67]

Perhaps because Leo was about 13 or 14 when he died, his dad made young adult synths for his friends, that he could "grow into"?

 

I like this theory. It's like moms buying oversized shoes that the children will grow into... Dad figured that Leo could use synthetic adult supervisors that he was mentally on level to but could get him food and drink without looking overly suspicious.

 

Of course the less generous interpretation is that David made the robots to experiment with different designs for the various niches of the population or because it was an amusing thought experiment and Leo ended up with the robots as high tech hand me downs. After dad was done with them he just handed them off to his son to play with indifferent to whether the son wanted them or would be capable of looking after them.

 

If we go by what soccer playing Synth was saying about David not teaching them much, we could say that David was a fairly negligent or indulgent parent who let his robot creations and human child do whatever they wanted as long as they left him alone to continue his experiments.

 

Is it wrong that I want Niska to open Pandora's box just to see what happens when millions of synths are sentient and refuse to do work unless they get extra power allotments or games or something to do on their breaks? Would be nice to see the intermediate step between AI's gaining intelligence and becoming hostile/genocidal to the human race.

[exsexbot]

I have to agree I find it odd that it's set "Now" (or at least, Now-ish) since we're nowhere near producing realistic androids. The best we can do is Honda's ASIMO, but you'd never mistake him for a real human and I doubt many people would want to fuck it (but I'm sure there are some!). I don't see why it couldn't be set in (say) 2050 and just handwave things like cars and phones being wrong, or at least rather implausible.

What about Toshiba's Chihira Aico? Most creepy is Toshiba's claim:

"Toshiba hopes to introduce these robots to the welfare/healthcare industry by 2020 to help the elderly or patients with dementia, act as remote counsellors, and more."

So we might get geriatric nurse hubots that tell the old humans "you can't have coffee, your blood pressure is too high"

[John Potts]

For those interested in how the real world development of AI/robotics compares to the world of Humans, Channel 4 have put out (in preparation for Series 2) a programme called , "How to Build a Human", starring Gemma Chan (Mia) and with a very brief appearance from Emily Berrington (Niska). It was interesting to see how close we actually are to producing androids like in the series - the idea behind the programme was to build a robot that could convincingly impersonate Gemma Chan (life imitating art!) and it was surprising how good a job they can do now (on an admittedly one-off basis).

It's available on 4od in the UK