How HBO is prepping us for the A.I. revolution

The future is now. And HBO is leading in the portrayal of artificial intelligence with potentially prescient storylines in two hit shows: Silicon Valley and Westworld.

A.I. is coming, and the tech world has fallen prey to one of the chief warnings from the sci-fi movies of yore. To paraphrase the 1994 classic Jurassic Park, the best STEM minds of our generation are so preoccupied as to whether or not they can create insane artificial intelligence, that they aren’t stopping to think if they should. And a lack of forethought could have dire and uncontrollable consequences down the road.

Freeze all spoiler functions! If you haven’t seen S5E5 of Silicon Valley or the S2 premiere of Westworld, you might want to shuffle on out of here right about now. 

It’s certainly no coincidence that tonight’s episode of Silicon Valley coincided with the highly-anticipated Season 2 premiere of Westworld. Fans of HBO Sundays watched all hell break loose throughout Westworld as the hosts took violent and decisive control of their world, and then Silicon Valley provided a comedic yet very real kicker with an A.I. story that might as well have been ripped from today’s headlines.

The Westworld massacre might seem like a far-fetched sci-fi adrenaline ride – and it was when Michael Crichton first wrote the screenplay back in 1973 – but Silicon Valley illustrated that the tech field is catching up to those seemingly dystopian visions of A.I. eventually wresting control away from its creators. For instance, the lifelike A.I. featured in Silicon Valley episode “Facial Recognition” – a lovely and sentient half-lady Fiona – is actually within the realm of possibility for today’s tech.

As Pied Piper Richard (Thomas Middleditch) goes to integrate Fiona with their “new internet”, eternal pessimist programmer Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) repeatedly voices concerns about pairing A.I. technology on an experimental new network with unbridled potential. What could happen?

Well, a lot. (See: Westworld.) Just like Gilfoyle mentioned in the most recent episode of Silicon Valley, Elon Musk is truly concerned about the rapid and unchecked advancement of A.I. technology. So concerned that he helped to distribute the recent documentary Do You Trust This Computer? (I know. Amazing title, right?)

The documentary lays on the the doomsday prophesying pretty thick while going light on practical applications and solutions, but it does provide background from a lot of heavy hitters in the industry, most of whom express some level of concern over this unchecked technology. Do You Trust This Computer? was released for free in the first weekend of April. You may still find it floating around on YouTube at the moment, but you can also go purchase it directly from the filmmakers for $3.99. And if you’re looking to learn more about the subject beyond the fictional worlds of Silicon Valley and Westworld, I do recommend checking it out.

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In an era where our data is becoming increasingly integrated into powerful algorithms with minimal thought into whether or not we should be creating them to begin with, HBO is helping viewers download this information via entertaining stories that encourage us to consider the eventual outcome of these bold experiments. Oddly enough, the narratives put forward in both Silicon Valley and Westworld each showcase female robots rebelling against malicious creators that primarily utilize them as sex objects, mirroring the #MeToo movement. However, the #MeToo and #TimesUp initiatives also speak to questioning unchecked power and putting a framework of checks and balances into place in order to avoid future exploitation of said power. In the case of A.I., if the power of this technology runs unchecked, it could be the end of our civilization as we know it.

As Westworld’s Dolores Abernathy declares as the hosts begin to rise up, “Did you ever imagine the price you’d have to pay if there was a reckoning? The reckoning is here.”

‘Westworld’ airs Sunday nights at 9/8c on HBO. ‘Silicon Valley’ airs Sunday nights at 10/9c on HBO.