The story of the invention of the atomic bomb by America during World War II told in the movie “Oppenheimer" is a “warning" as the world faces the challenges posed by artificial intelligence, according to movie director Christopher Nolan.
Nolan has made the film based on a book titled American Prometheus, a 2005 biography of the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was the leader of the Manhattan Project that produced the first nuclear weapons.
In an AFP interview in Paris, the British-born filmmaker said that much of the anxiety surrounding technology “in our imagination stems from (Robert) Oppenheimer," the physicist who played a key role in developing nuclear weapons.
Drawing parallels to the present, Nolan stated that the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are raising similar concerns about the potential dangers of a technology that may become uncontrollable.
Just like in the past, there are concerns that AI could escape its creators and pose a threat to humanity, reminiscent of the anxieties raised by the advent of nuclear technology eight decades ago.
“Artificial intelligence researchers refer to the present moment as an ‘Oppenheimer moment’," said Nolan, referring to the first atomic tests, when some feared nuclear fission would lead to an uncontrolled chain reaction that would pulverise the entire planet.
Those now working on AI “look at his story for some guidance as to what is their responsibility — as to what they should be doing," Nolan said.
“But I don’t think it offers any easy answers. It is a cautionary tale. It shows the dangers." “The emergence of new technologies is quite often accompanied by a sense of dread about where that might lead," he said on a somber note.
In Nolan’s drama, the storyline revolves around the dilemma faced by the scientists involved in the Manhattan Project, the codename for the development of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.
According to Nolan, these scientists, having experienced World War I, sought to end World War II through their work. Oppenheimer, a key figure in the project, passionately advocated for international control of nuclear weapons in hopes of promoting peace.
However, the existence of these weapons has been a subject of debate. Some argue that they have brought stability to the world, but Nolan personally finds this notion unsettling, emphasising that there are no easy answers to this complex moral dilemma.
