My
Series
Login

Login

Email / username and / or password are not correct.
Documentary Mind vs. Machine about AI in development

Documentary Mind vs. Machine about AI in development

Steve James (Hoop Dreams) goes Mind vs. Directing Machine, a new documentary on the subject of artificial intelligence.
The documentary comes from Oscar winner Alex Gibney's Jigsaw Productions, Closer Media, Anonymous Content and Emmy-winning producers Alyssa Fedele & Zachary Fink of Collective Hunch (The Rescue List, The Ride of Their Lives).

14782 Steve James en Alex Gibney

Gibney (pictured right) comes to the project after working with Closer Media and Anonymous Content on the upcoming documentary Musk, which will be distributed by HBO/Universal. In the past year, his production company Jigsaw has also collaborated with the companies on the MGM+-acquired documentary In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon and the Raoul Peck-directed Orwell about 1984 author George Orwell, which is distributed by Neon.

As artificial intelligence storms the world stage - and our lives - it may seem as if a radical new life form has suddenly emerged. But like Mind vs. Machine illustrates, AI has been a long time coming and has been persistently developed by pioneering inventors over the past seventy years. Even these leading scientists couldn't predict the sheer power of their invention - which is now at the center of a global arms race - and many have diametrically opposed views on how to safely forge a path forward.

Combining interviews and archival footage with dramatic reconstructions, AI visualizations and cutting-edge special effects, the five-part series provides unparalleled access to key inventors, scientists, futurists and thinkers at the heart of the story of AI, such as Geoffrey Hinton, Yann LeCun, Ray Kurzweil, Deborah Raji and Meghan O'Gieblyn.

Ahead of production, the team optioned two of the most important books on the subject - Genius Makers by New York Times technology correspondent Cade Metz and God, Human, Animal, Machine by Meghan O'Gieblyn - and is working closely together with the authors, with Metz serving as executive producer.

The series also provides unprecedented access to the never-before-seen provocative writings of infamous anti-technologist Ted Kaczynski, courtesy of the University of Michigan Library. We grapple with the implications of AI for the future by exploring the personal journeys of those who brought us to this critical turning point and by following key players in the field who are advancing the technology that will change life as we know it.

“We want to tell the history of AI through the personal lenses of people who have impacted it greatly, and those who are thinking deeply about where humanity is headed,” said James in a statement. “This is the most ambitious project I’ve ever directed and the team and I are thrilled to be working with Closer Media and Anonymous Content. I have never felt a more urgent need to make a film than right now on this issue.”

Added Gibney: “This is a critical story to tell at a vital moment. I’m delighted to join forces with my friend Steve James, to tell the story of AI in a way that is dramatically propulsive, thematically provocative and centered around a few of the central characters in AI. We’re going to bring a level of visual innovation that befits the subject. T-Zero. We’re launching.”

In addition to Metz, Zhang Xin, William Horberg and Joey Marra of Closer Media and Nick Shumaker, Jessica Grimshaw and David Levine of Anonymous Content are the executive producers of Mind vs. Machine. Closer Media and Anonymous Content are selling the rights along with UTA, which represents Gibney and Jigsaw.

James is a Chicago filmmaker best known for his Oscar-nominated documentaries Hoop Dreams and Abacus: Small Enough to Jail. He has also worked on titles such as Stevie, The Interrupters and Life Itself, as well as the critically acclaimed docuseries America to Me, City So Real and The Luckiest Guy in the World. His most recent film, A Compassionate Spy, was released by Magnolia after a world premiere in Venice.

Gibney's past credits include the Oscar-winning documentary films Taxi to the Dark Side, the Oscar-nominated Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, the three-time Emmy and Peabody-winning Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Steve Jobs : The Man in the Machine and The Inventor: Out For Blood made in Silicon Valley.
Like?
View votes

Comments (1)

BlackBiker
10 February 2024, 13:10
AI has fantastic potential, but can also be very dangerous. Terminator and The Matrix were movies, not manuals :-) . Interesting that they also include the manifesto of the Unabomber (Kaczynski) in the story. I'm actually curious about this docu series.
1Translated from Dutch.
Log in to leave a comment