How the Plot of ‘Ex Machina’ Was Actually a Reverse AI Turing Test For Humans

Beth Singler of New Scientist explains how the plot of the 2014 science fiction film Ex Machina was actually a reverse AI Turing test for the character of Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleason), who was ostensibly there to administer a test to a humanoid robot named Ava. Instead of attributing human characteristics to Ava, Caleb wound up developing feelings for her.

The idea is to see if, given the knowledge that she is a robot, will the human character deduce that she still has personhood? He can see her insides. He knows how she’s been developed, and the data she’s been trained on, yet still he develops an emotional attachment to her.