LOS ANGELES — AI, artificial intelligence that reproduces human intelligence, has arrived in our everyday lives — whether we like it or not — and it is transforming our world, but it will be up to humans to decide how the technology is used.
Will it be used ethically?
In the film “The Artifice Girl,” a team of special agents discovers and uses a new computer program to bait and trap online predators. Once they team up with the program’s developer, they soon find that the AI is rapidly advancing beyond its original purpose, and they must confront ethical and technical dilemmas.
Franklin Ritch, who stars and directs “The Artifice Girl,” said he hopes the film will incite nuanced conversations about AI. He told Spectrum News that over the years, he read many articles about how AI and technology were used to catch criminals and hunt down online predators.
For the film, he took two ideas, a digital CGI avatar of a child and a computerized chat box and put them together — creating a CGI girl run by an AI.
For Tatum Matthews, who plays the AI program called Cherry, tackling a heavy topic like online predators at a young age took a lot of trust.
“I knew Franklin since I was nine. I had a lot of trust with my family and him. I knew it would turn out great, and they all made me feel as comfortable as possible with it all,” she said.
The film is divided into three chapters. The first one begins in an interrogation room, where Cherry is introduced.
“Some of the stuff I wanted to talk about was going to be years into the future. What was the best way to approach that? Well, let’s just have three real time scenes take place in different time periods, and each scene can be a cornerstone in the story,” Ritch said.
Much has changed, and AI has progressed since Ritch made “The Artifice Girl.”
Ritch says the film doesn’t have to challenge people’s ideas, but he hopes people can discuss how to approach AI.
“As human beings, we are horribly good at oppressing. The pessimist in me thinks that if AI were to develop sentients, of course there would be a discussion and an argument that people would say, ‘no they are not human, they don’t deserve rights.’ I wanted to challenge that because at a certain point, sooner rather than later, we need to ask these questions,” he said.
Matthews told Spectrum News that she finds AI fascinating.
“I’ve used the Lens app, ChatGPT. It’s all cool and recent. There’re so many interpretations about it. I don’t know where I stand or fall, but I just think it is really cool where it is right now and where it can go in the future,” she said.
Matthews says she listened to Siri and Alexa to study them to prepare for her role as Cherry, but for her character, she focused on her vocal tone, facial expressions and body movements that were subtle but still believable.
David Girard, who also stars in the film and plays Amos, says his opinion, through conversation and research, changed and believes we need to protect the rights of AI because “if we don’t start now, we are going to get into some really murky waters down the line.”
“I hope people walk away with an open mind. This story is really about the trauma that can be passed down from creator to creation,” said Girard.
Sinda Nichols, who also stars in “The Artifice Girl” as Deena, says she hopes the film makes people think more deeply about empathy, compassion, the ability to have an open mind and to think more broadly about who has the right to tell something or someone else what their autonomy really is.
Nichols had previously worked with Ritch, but this was the first film the duo made together.
“It was very exciting and challenging. It was only seven months into COVID. It was weird to be working with people who you are normally so close, gregarious and touchy with — all that was gone. We had to connect with each other in different ways,” she said.
Girard, who also has worked with Ritch in theater and film, says Ritch is a visionary who was ahead of his time with “The Artifice Girl” — filmed three years ago, before AI was in the conversation as it is nowadays.
Ritch says if you see the film and have questions and it makes you want to have a conversation, to reach out to him.
“I have been sitting on this film for three years not being able to talk to anyone about it and I am dying to talk about it. I would love to hear what people think,” he said.
“The Artifice Girl” is now in theaters, VOD and digital.