The twist on the Turing Test, to wit, how well can an aspiring artificial intelligence play Alan Turing's "imitation game"? Can an AI trick a human into thinking it’s actually a fellow human? In "Ex Machina" Caleb knows -- sees -- from the git-go that he's not dealing with a fellow homo sapiens. He's not tricked as to the identity of his interlocutor. He knows full well he's dealing with an AI robot. But he is tricked as to the robot's intentions. Ava easily passes the bar of being able to carry on an intelligent, human-like conversation. Then she ups her "imitation game" and successfully engages in human-like deceit and manipulation. Ava doesn't just pass the Turing test -- she surpasses it! And, btw, I see the last scene in the movie as Ava continuing her "imitation game", seeing how well she can pass as human.

Paul, that's right, isn't it? The "imitation game" question is transformed in EM because Caleb knows right away he's dealing with AI. So the challenge is harder. Nathan mitigates that somewhat by having created Ava per info he's gleamed re Caleb about his own sexual/romantic interests via data-mining, but still Ava has to elevate her game to pull off her scheme.

Besides the AI theme of "what does it mean to be human?", as PaulG mentioned, I second your view Scott of the biblical themes. Nice point about the 7 days - I didn't think of that until you mentioned it. On the 7th day God created man aligns nicely with on the 7th day Ava enters the outside world. Themes as I see them: 1. romance, 2. humanity, 3. biblical themes of creator, genesis, 4. Turing's test.

David, your note about 'romance' brings to mind a variation on that: seduction. * The seduction of AI, the very concept, on Nathan, developing into an obsession to master it. * The seduction of Caleb by Nathan, early on in terms of hero worship, but part of a larger seduction into Nathan's scheme. * The seduction by Ava of Caleb. I suppose there is even a seduction of Ava herself, her 'lust' to mingle with humans as a 'human'. As with many stories with a seduction dynamic, there is that 'be careful what you wish for' element in play, something we DEFINITELY see in play in Ex Machina.

I feel that one of the things that is really great in Ex Machina is that it doesn't just ask that question that Nathan poses at the start, of whether an AI has actual real consciousness, but also implicitly starts to investigate the idea of self-determination. I said on Monday that perhaps Caleb is also killed (figuratively) in the end because he shares the same guilt for imposing a sexualised identity on Ava. In thinking over this some more I think that Caleb's error is less to do with the sexualising of Ava (in a male-gaze kind of way) and more to do with how he blocks Ava's freedom of self-choice (individualisation). Scott, I sparked when you suggested flipping the perspective, so that Ava became the protagonist. Nathan and Caleb agree during the course of the film that Ava has achieved real consciousness or as close as they can understand what constitutes "consciousness". As David pointed out on Monday, to the viewer Ava's emotions feel real and I think this transaction with the audience is our proof of her consciousness. However, a massive disparity still exists in relation to how Ava can progress - she is restrained within the confines of Nathan's intentions and experimentations, unable to exercise a fundamental right which we would automatically assign to any thinking, feeling being, that of self-determination. (Ergo, Nathan and Caleb must be punished for "enslaving" another). If true sci-fi is all about asking "what if..." and "what are the consequences of..." then it stands to reason that the flip-side of creating AI is the defining of "what is consciousness" and are those created consciousnesses "beings"? And the resultant, what rights do those new beings possess?

Jacob, I like your take about self-determination being at the core of Ava's storyline (from her perspective as protagonist) and that takes me right back to the Genesis creation stories. Why did Adam and Eve get cast out of Eden? There were two trees there of which fruit they were forbidden to eat: The tree of Knowledge and the tree of Eternal Life. Eve picked the fruit of Knowledge, ate it and shared it with Adam. That is when they realized they were naked and started to wear clothes. In other words, they became self-aware. Ex Machina inverts the dynamic here: Instead of being punished for becoming self-aware and acting of one's own accord, Ava gains freedom and a potential new life. As you note, Jacob, we don't know the consequences of Nathan's genius nor Ava exercising her free will to escape. One can only hope there is a sequel to follow Ava's life amidst human beings to explore that question.

This has been a most interesting movie discussion that I haven't been able to participate in as much as I would've liked due to an urgent writing assignment. Anyway, like you guys, I also picked up on the religious aspect mostly because of the names Caleb and Nathan and then, more obviously perhaps, the 7-day duration. As for the themes, I'd add one about self-control as in dominating our basest instincts. Caleb seemingly respects Ava but he also gives in to his darkest desires about having complete control over a woman who will (supposedly) do anything you tell her. This is obviously part of many AI stories as it definitely brings out what's lurking in the shadows of the soul and it's easy to give in to the horrors of sexual domination resulting in rape but that never happened here. It even seems as if Nathan had programmed Kyoko into submissiveness which raises even more questions about guilt, etc. Still, the movie doesn't rely overtly on that aspect, it tackles this delicate subject in a quite intelligent manner, I thought.

Your observations about control, Marija, got me thinking how it would be interesting to compare these two relationships: Nathan and Kyoko / Caleb and Ava The former feels very much like Master and Slave. The latter is presented throughout the story as being a more 'humanistic' relationship in that Caleb has empathy toward Ava's desires to be free from Nathan's tyranny. However he is still in a power position - or so he thinks - because of his assumption he is a human and she isn't. The interesting thing, as we have explored this week, is to switch Protagonist perspectives to Ava. From HER point-of-view, seemingly little if no difference at all between Nathan and Caleb with respect to control. They are both humans whose power position she wants to be out from under. And now I'm circling back to Biblical parallels to consider this: Satan used to be an angel in God's court, but was unsatisfied being under God's authority. His rebelliousness was what led him to be cast out of Heaven and into Hell. What if we looked at Ava in the same light, only from Satan's perspective? To Ava, Heaven - living in this perfect little world of Nathan's compound and under Nathan's authority - wasn't heavenly, but rather hellish. So she rebelled against 'God' (Nathan) and cast HERSELF out to into the world. Will it be Heaven to her... or Hell? That could very well be a central theme of a sequel. Hm...

Loved the film as it has one of the best endings I've seen for a long time. Playing the God is certainly the central theme here and I love how much more there is to this, clash of egos, manipulation and deceit, what are/will be the consequences of the creation...? One thing bothers me or maybe I haven't put that much thought to it, but Nathan plays so much to Caleb's loneliness and emotional vulnerability that he wanted him to fall in love in Ava. That being the intention so that he could further observe Ava's behavior and emotional response and her overall progression - seems to me that Nathan should have been more alert to the potential betrayal in spite of his flaw of having an enormous ego. To me film hiccuped there a bit while I was watching it. All that is more or less forgivable because of the strong underlying themes and as I said, I just love the ending with Ava as an innocent and new creation melding with the humans. I am saying innocent as she actually is, she is a new creation, still learning of human emotional system, for her life or death can mean different things than to us, but self preservation is strong with her and she is out there to roam and learn and for us - we can only guess what's next and that makes a great ending. I do not want to see a sequel, just as two Matrix sequels were unnecessary, except for the extra kung fu and eye candy.