Production

Early 80s VFX. So much rotoscoping. The dawn of computer generated graphics. Disney and art assets. Computational limitations creating art styles.

Late-70s computing

Hard drives! Huge ones.Huge mainframes. Pre-internet networks.

Anthropomorphised computing

Sentient computer antagonists. Legal protections for artificial life. Chess as the soon-to-be-obliterated pinnacle of artificial intelligence.

AI Takeovers

Master Control program.Skynets. Conflicting interests between man and machine. AI villainy is different from human villainy. Good AI to compete with the bad ones.

Maybe the only way to stop a bad A.I. with a nuclear arsenal is a good A.I. with a nuclear arsenal

Death-frisbees

Chakram! Old-school sharpened frisbee weapons of south Asia.

Accidental godliness

Accidentally creating cargo cults. Self-aware life in servitude. Responsibilities when creating intelligences.

Digitization

Digitizing three-dimensional objects. Destructive and non-destructive methods. How we scan books. Brain uploading. Human Connectome Project.

mcp:~ $ cat /dev/jeff_bridges > /dev/null