Philip K. Dick is author of the science fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? that became widely known to the general public through the adaptation of the movie Blade Runner by Ridley Scott.
As the story unfolds in a dystrophic and dark vision of the future, this cult movie presents a harsh reality where human beings are condemned to struggle to survive in a hostile environment.
The plot
After a global war that has rendered Earth’s atmosphere highly radioactive, most animal species are endangered or extinct. In this environment where the cycle of life has lost its vitality, people are encouraged to move to off-world colonies with the incentive of free androids that are similar in appearance to humans.
In this dark world, human beings are seeking connection, but seem unable to connect with each other. Everyone leaves their televisions on constantly, watching variety shows to avoid being bored and feeling alone.
The androids
The replicas (androids) are engineered humans designed to do difficult and hazardous work. They are stronger, faster, and smarter than human beings. They feel no pain or remorse. They are incapable of feeling empathy.
The Blade Runner are tracking engineered humans androids who rebel and want to break free from their conditions. The main character Rick Deckard, a Blade Runner, is working with policemen to unmask these androids. But soon Deckard learns that the latest models of replica, the Nexus 6, are different and experience emotions and empathy towards others such as main antagonist characters Roy Batty.
Batty with other replicas came from Mars on Earth to find their creators and obtain an extension of their existence, which has a finite lifespan. Deckard finds most of the fugitives but is overwhelmed by his encounter with Rachel, a new Nexus 6 model. He lets her live and falls in love with her.
Coexisting with anthoid and AI
This science fiction movie explores philosophical and social questions about the coexistence of human beings and androids generated by AI. But I believe the most interesting feature is probably at the end of the movie when the main characters Deckard and the android Batty are struggling against each other for their own self-preservation in the scene tears in rain
The famous scene tears in rain
After this relentless struggle, Batty’s decided to save Deckard. This scene is a powerful act of empathy and humanity. It’s as if Batty had an epiphany at the end of its existence. It’s as if the android which is passing across the border between life and death is learning that the power of doing a good action can liberate oneself from the fear of drying. Batty saving action is entirely done without self-preservation or self-interest, it’s simply an act of human solidarity.
Tears in rain” reveals Batty’s deep attachment to life. It’s one of the most iconic scenes in science fiction cinema. I tried to count the number of YouTube videos that depict the scene, but without success, as there are hundreds and hundreds of copies on the web.
The longer version of Tears in rain of the original storyline allows us to grasp the scope of Batty’s experience which lived human emotions but is not a human being. It shows his experience with an existence guided by the activity of self-preservation instinct and the fear of death.
Above all, this movie challenges us with a fundamental question: What is human? What is human in me ? What is human in others ? Could it be possible that an android, created by human beings, has such a strong connection with the activity of self-perservation and the fear of death? Could it be possible that an android transcends his own fear of dying by saving the consciousness of one human being ?
Philip K. Dick (1) the author of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? that served as the basis narrative for Blade Runner, explained in an interview that his decision to write this novel came after he met his wife, Nancy. Before this encounter, Dick view of humanity aligned with the system and his own experience; namely, that human beings are selfish, wicked, and primarily driven by their own instinct for self-preservation. Then, meeting his wife revealed to him that another tendency in humankind is possible. A tendency towards well-being, caring, love, community, solidarity and the support of the evolution of life.
Today, as big private corporations around the world want to rapidly implement AI and Android in human organizations, what behavioral trends will be encoded into the underlying architecture? Will it be towards the activity of self-preservation instinct at any cost? Or will it be a tendency towards nurturing life, openness to others, caring, and the evolution of human beings?
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Note (1): Dick’s work more explicitly addressed questions of theology, metaphysics, and the nature of reality. His work was Influenced by: Flaubert, Alfred E. van Vogt, James Joyce, Balzac, Kant, Marcel Proust, Carl Jung, Samuel Beckett, Dostoevsky, John Sladek, Nathanael West, Jorge Luis Borges, Jack Spicer, H.G. Wells.