At first, J. Robert Oppenheimer was all zealous about his work and contributions, but as soon as he and his project staff learned about the Hiroshima bombing, they were filled with regret because of the role they played in the bomb’s creation. When Oppenheimer met with President Truman, the former broke down in tears and voiced his apologies to President Truman. He went to meet him to seek a ban on Nuclear bombs. However, he was referred to as a crybaby by Truman, who then expressed his wish to never see him again. Now, Christopher Nolan is hoping that the Silicon Valley audience for his picture Oppenheimer, which is all set to be released on July 21, will recognise a bit of themselves in his interpretation of all those events.
Following a screening of Oppenheimer at the Whitby Hotel, Christopher Nolan spoke about the movie with a group of scientists and Kai Bird, one of the writers of the book, American Prometheus, on which Oppenheimer is based on. There were a few reporters in the crowd, but the majority of the spectators were scientists who laughed at the film’s humour about the egos of physicists.
As per a report by The Verge, Dr. Thom Mason, the current director of Los Alamos, spoke about how many current lab staff members had cameos in the movie because so much of it was shot nearby. There was a brief discussion on the effectiveness of nuclear deterrence. But near the end of the discussion, moderator Chuck Todd of Meet the Press questioned Nolan about what he thought Silicon Valley might take away from the movie. “I think what I would want them to take away is the concept of accountability,” he said to Todd.
Nolan further explained, “When you innovate through technology, you have to make sure there is accountability.” He was alluding to a wide range of technological advancements that Silicon Valley has welcomed while the same businesses have consistently caused harm without acknowledging it. He added, “The rise of companies over the last 15 years bandying about words like ‘algorithm,’ not knowing what they mean in any kind of meaningful, mathematical sense. They just don’t want to take responsibility for what that algorithm does.”
The director of the highly anticipated film continued, “And applied to AI? That’s a terrifying possibility. Terrifying. Not least because as AI systems go into the defense infrastructure, ultimately they’ll be charged with nuclear weapons and if we allow people to say that that’s a separate entity from the person’s whose wielding, programming, putting AI into use, then we’re doomed. It has to be about accountability. We have to hold people accountable for what they do with the tools that they have.”
Although Nolan did not name any specific businesses, it is clear what he was referring to. Companies like Google, Meta, and even Netflix rely heavily on algorithms to attract and keep consumers, yet this reliance frequently has unintended and horrifying consequences. The most notable and appalling was perhaps Meta’s role in the genocide in Myanmar.
Also Read: Worried about obscenity, India asks Netflix, Disney and other streamers for content checks
Nolan expressed that the Oppenheimer moment for the people of Silicon Valley is the advancement in AI. When the moderator asked if the Silicon Valley is thinking what he expresses right now, Nolan chuckled and responded, “They say that they do. And that’s helpful. That at least it’s in the conversation. And I hope that thought process will continue. I’m not saying Oppenheimer’s story offers any easy answers to these questions. But at least it serves a cautionary tale.”
Follow FE Tech Bytes on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook
