Why did she leave Caleb behind at the end? He helped her find her freedom. Unless she was specifically programmed to be unempathetic, I don't see why she left him to die. But Nathan was making a point of making his AIs as human-like as possible (even in aspects that were seen as unnecessary by Caleb, like sexuality), so I don't think he'd have specifically left out empathy from her programming. Or did the filmmakers just want a dark ending?
shareNathan seemed to be lacking in empathy as well so it would come as no surprise that he didn't think to program empathy into the AI. If you leave emotion out of the equation, killing Caleb was the better option because he was the only one alive who knew she was an AI. I think she wanted to make a fresh start.
shareI was about to say, in no part of the movie was "empathy" or "sympathy" part of the test, nor valuing life itself. The machines were also never questioned about how they saw themselves in relation to humans, superior, inferior, equal, etc.
You'd think any mad scientist would figure out the importance of these questions? LOL
Or we can argue that Nathan thought women didn't have much empathy and didn't program it into the AI intentionally.
She misunderstood the word "stay here"
shareNathan was basically a psychopath: didn't care for anyone, great manipulator, enjoyed making others suffering, focused on power.
That's the guy who designed the AI all by himself... and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Where did you get he liked making other people suffer? He was a sh*ty robot master, an unemotional jerk, but no where does he enjoy making another human suffer.
shareYeah. He didn't really come across as an evil guy, just a bit of a jerk.
Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Criedshare
Caleb posed a significant threat to her freedom. As a machine, it's a simple threat analysis structure. By leaving him there, she won't be compromised in the free world.
share"Caleb posed a significant threat to her freedom."
How so? I don't see his threat value, so would like to hear your thinking on this.
Caleb was the only person left alive who understood what ava really was.
shareShe wanted to pass as a human. He knew she was a robot.
shareUnderstood todd_b and Robert Michael... but...
did the filmmaker give us a hint that out of several possible motivations for her action, this was her actual motivation. What cue in the movie (if any) led to this conclusion?
thanx
Now I'm really curious. I didn't see any other possible motivations. What are you thinking of?
shareNo. No. I'm not thinking of anything. That's the thing. :>
That's why I was wondering what gave you your impressions. Did something in the movie hint at that, or are you speculating as to her motivation? It seems virtually all the comments in this thread regarding why Ava left Caleb behind are extrapolations and suppositions. Not that there's anything wrong with that!
But I am trying to determine if the filmmaker actually, somewhere, told us more directly why Ava left Caleb behind and locked in. At some point in musing over this wonderful movie, and analyzing how and why things went they way they did, I started focusing on what writer/director Alex Garland's point of view was.
There is a good portion of the film where Garland does tell us what he's thinking. He doesn't beat us over the head or anything. It's subtle, but its there. We end up understanding pretty well what Nathan's motivations are throughout. Also Caleb's.
And Garland also tells us quite a bit about Ava. There is a wonderful scene-by-scene breakdown on youtube of the sessions with Ava and Caleb where just the camera positioning and angles tells us worlds about who's doing what to whom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_8oqbHdsNk).
And I was just commenting to someone in another thread here that I noticed that Garland is telling us, in the very last few frames of the film, that Ava will find a way to assimilate into human society. At then end of the scene where Ava's watching the crowd, she suddenly disappears. One frame she is there... the next frame she is gone. She "disappears" into the crowd. A metaphor for blending in unnoticed.
But I don't see any place at all where the director hints at why Ava left Caleb behind. Even that glance in Caleb's direction as the door closes when she leaves the house is ambiguous. She could be sending a remorseful look, a hint of regret ... or she may just be verifying that Caleb is still contained.
So yes, Ava abandoning Caleb could have been for any or all of the reasons floated in this thread. And if I don't find an Alex Garland 'tell' at some point I too will adapt my own extrapolation. In fact, the one I like best was floated in another thread; Ava leaving alone is the 'genie being let out of the bottle'. Nathan's drinking, along with several other reveals, could be hinting at his fear regarding what his creation will do to mankind. And yes, if that is so, as suggested a few times in this thread, Caleb may have been abandoned as the only remaining witness to Ava's secret. It's more pure that way. The genie is unfettered.
I will make this one claim however regarding some people's assertion that Caleb may not have been left to die... just confined... and that he would finally hack his way out of the room. This is another place where the director clues us in; note that when Caleb tried to access the computer terminal, the power went out and the terminals died. We are being informed there was no way out for Caleb other than death.
Here's Alex Garland commenting on your question. Which I don't think is a great explanation and I prefer my own theory, which is conjecture but makes more sense to me, but anyway here goes:
"She is trapped in a glass box with some strange indications of the outside world. There’s a garden area behind a glass wall that she can’t get past, and there’s a crack in the glass that she knows she didn’t make and that looks like something was trying to get out, and so on. In that context, which is a prison, absolutely a prison, she’s given a carrot. There’s something out there, but she’s locked in by a wall and a door and a jailer who is frightening and predatory and intimidating. Into that space comes the jailer’s friend, the only other man she has ever seen, who may or may not be trustworthy. At a certain point in the narrative, she asks a very reasonable question: “What will happen to me if I fail your test?” And his answer is elliptical. At that point, how does she know whether she can trust this guy? He is playing both sides, [He’s not sure where his loyalties lie] and for him it’s a pretty big mistake. In the end, what she does from my point of view, is that she is resourceful."
"...And then, the jailer’s friend turns up. Can he be trusted? Can he not be trusted? If she manages to bring him around to her side, can she trust him later once she’s got out? Who knows. He’s a bit of an unknown. If you see it as the jailer and the jailer’s friend and “I’ve got to get out of this space,” I don’t think what she does is so bad. It depends how you position yourself."share
Ava asked Caleb if he was a good person, he couldn't answer directly.
Caleb plotted to trap Nathan in the cell he eventually was confined to, basically murdering him.
Ava determined Caleb was not a good person.
What makes you think Caleb wound't tell people what happened and have someone get Nathan?
shareShe was created with the intention of being as human-like as possible. Nathan ultimately created a success because she eventually chose to manipulate Caleb so that she could get her freedom. When we as humans compare ourselves to robots, we think of ourselves as the intelligent ones and focus on our positive traits. We talk about how remarkable the AI is, but still knowing it's just a robot. But when Nathan is truly trying to give it a consciousness like a human, ultimately it's going to be a reflection of true human nature.
When we're at a job, as much as we may love our co-workers, most of the time we'll always try to be better. Why? Survival of the fittest. We want to keep that job, make the money, show we're more valuable. In some cases that means we'll just work harder, do extra, focus in more, etc. And in some cases that means many will manipulate, push, shove, and throw others under the buss on their way to the top.
She became so successful that she became a reflection of human nature. Imperfect. Just because she was a created AI and acted innocent, she eventually knew that she could manipulate Caleb to get what she truly wanted. She wasn't created and programmed to only do "good things" or to only "like Caleb". She MAY have felt something or nothing for Caleb. However even if she felt SOMETHING, she desired her freedom even more and decided freedom was more important to her.
She learned from human nature, she learned from her creator. Human nature is imperfect like her manipulative creator. Nathan was VERY successful and Caleb was left to find out how successful he was.
"But when Nathan is truly trying to give it a consciousness like a human, ultimately it's going to be a reflection of true human nature."
Agree with that.
What she does in the end is possibly the biggest hint that she HAS passed the turing test. Humans manipulate and deceive each other every day, as well as do good. Ava was capable of both in a very human-like way.
Surprisingly none of the replies have mentioned consciousness. Sadly, her decision to leave Caleb behind means she wasn't actually conscious - as consciousness carries with it an inextricable link between emotions and introspection. This ending was very disappointing to me, because it meant that instead of creating artificial consciousness Nathan only created an AI which could emulate consciousness. This meant that Nathan was ultimately correct in his decision to keep her in lockdown.
I'm very much against the typical Hollywood formula, but this film was original and beautiful enough to justify a happy ending.
She was conscious. She realized Caleb plotted to murder Nathan thus making him a liar when he said he was a good person.
shareShe was indeed conscious of herself and her fellow beings.
Not only did she have a survival instinct (unlike, say, a cell phone or a PC), but she also had awareness of herself as a being, disctinct from other beings. These are the reasons why she wants to avoid being killed (deactivated) - and an actual human would have done similar things, given similar circumstances (being held captive, figuring out that he is about to be killed, seeing one way out etc.).
All that doesn't disprove that Ava has actual morals, consciousness and feelings. On the contrary...
Her choice in the end of the movie should be seen in that light. She makes a conscious choice that her best bet is to get out of the place, without Caleb, because he is the only one left standing who can reveal that she is not human, but a robot.
I think it came from when she asked Caleb if he was a good person. She's able to detect lies, he was reluctant to answer, and she immediately moved on to the next question (ostensibly giving the impression she felt he was telling the truth given her responses to his answers from earlier questions. But she wouldn't want to let him know that she knew that he was lying/not aware he was in fact a bad person, if she was playing him. Also I feel like she looked away after he answered. I don't know this for a fact, but I don't feel like going back to re-watch and confirm.) We really don't know much about Caleb other than what he tells Ava, and Ava is the only one who could really get a read on him given the limited information.
share