Humans, Chanel 4

[bednobs]

i am finding this program really good - anyone else?
We always talk about it at work on a monday (if i'm working) and my colleague always seem to perceive some significance that i don't, and we very much enjoy trying to work out what it's all about (is merlin a human consciousness in a robot, or a human with robotic peices?; what will happen to the autistic robot in the woods?, what has previously happened to anita etc)

[Old_Geezer]

Yes, it is quite interesting.

[whirlyhurly]

Yes, it's definitely intriguing. This is the type of "science fiction" that I enjoy. Already I'm on the side of the synths.

[ferlew]

I'm saving up for one as we speak....great prog.

[mastercraft]

I watched the first episode and really liked it, but unfortunately missed the second, and have avoided watching any more as I don't want to miss the plot.
Where can I catch up on it?

[pastafreak]

I'm really enjoying it...it's eerie,dark...and rather creepy.
Mastercraft,you can catch up on 4OD.

[mastercraft]

Thank you Pasta.

[Colmc54]

I'm following the series and own up to being entertained by it.

I wouldn't call it science fiction though as there is more fiction in it than science. The idea that you can effectively humanise a robot with a string of code seems extremely far-fetched to say the least. I think it's more interesting to consider the synths as a pretty blatant metaphor for something else. Any guesses?

[Colmc54]

Human slavery, exploitation, political manipulation. That would be a start. People being trafficked around the world. The females being sold into sexual slavery.

This isn't science fiction because it's happening already, no sentient robots involved yet.

[whirlyhurly]

What was Laura's secret regarding Tom ??

[Colmc54]

By 'Tom', the actor's name, do you mean 'Joe', Laura's husband?

There is something there but I think the scriptwriters are still keeping us guessing.

[Arksided]

I saw the first three episodes... and will be able to catch up. But can't really comment at the moment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics

[Colmc54]

The question is surely why the goal of robotics is seen by many as a means to replace humans. In my lifetime (I'm 60yo) I've seen millions of jobs replaced by computers and automated machines controlled by computers.

At the same time I have seen human unemployment rise and benefit dependency in the advanced economies, and increasing poverty everywhere else rise.

I ask who needs robotics? Not the majority of the human population who want to work and live in a degree of comfort and security, but the corporate multinational corporations who appear, at every opportunity to grab every development that can replace a human worker with a machine.

Machines don't feel exploitation and lack of opportunity. Machines don't dream of meeting a partner, falling in love and wanting to have a family in their own home. As they grow older they don't think about their grandchildren and what kind of Hell on Earth they might live in, but we do, or should.

All to often advances in technology, like driverless cars, are signed off by politicians who see safety as the only concern. It's much more dangerous than that I believe. Ask any taxi driver for instance.

Robotics is the science of producing the maximum concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the minimum number of people (e.g.robots don't go on strike for more pay), and if the problem of what to do with the rest of us gets too much I'm sure their automated biotech laboratories will come up with a suitably incurable viral solution.

This process has been happening all my life and it can only get worse.

[whirlyhurly]

On 4OD, it was explained by Laura that Tom was her little brother who was accidentally killed as he ran out into traffic. But her mother always blamed Laura for not keeping watch over him.