A moment,

an film gave me a striking perception shifting

13 years ago.

In 2011, I attended the <Bucheon International Film Festival> with a friend, which was about an hour away from Seoul in Korea.

Among the many films,
I chose to watch a film called ‘광란의 타이어 – Crazy Mad Rubber’
purely out of curiosity due to its subject.
(The original title of the film was <Rubber> in English>
And the genre of the movie was horror and comedy!

As an independent film,
the film’s storytelling was different from mainstream movies.

At first, when the tire just rolled out and started the story,
many people in the theater, including myself,
burst into laughter.

“What, is the tire really the main character?” 

“Is the story really going to continue like this?”

Even the movement of the tire and
the composition of the screen
were not quite artistic or technical.

Literally, the tire just rolled around. 

But as time goes on,
what’s really striking was that at some point,
I started to read the emotions and intentions
of the tire from its movement. 

When it swayed slightly from side to side,
it seemed to be deep in thought with its head tilted,
and when it trembled,
I felt like it was expressing anger with its whole body. 

Eventually,
I felt literally ‘fear’ about the movement of tires
that kill people.

It was weird and terrifying. 

It cannot be denied that
music played a significant role,
but even if it is not a human actor or delicately depicted animation,

people can have the feeling that they find similarities in themselves
while looking at objects, anthropomorphize unknowingly, and empathize with emotions.

Human Nature of Empathy and Devotion

I sometimes think about various thoughts
through deep affection and responsibility
that people willingly devote to pets these days,
which could also be considered a meaningful phenomenon.

The characteristics of pets
that receive a lot of care and love from people
also lie in the fact that
they communicate with understandable gestures and expressions. 

In addition, human society has become increasingly atomized
and is sometimes described as a ‘selfish’ society,
but the generosity and commitment towards beloved pets
make us think about the generosity and commitment
that are ingrained in our human nature. 

In a nutshell,
humans have the beautiful ability to empathize with others
and humans willingly dedicate themselves to others
whom they deeply empathize with and understand.

Attractive AI?

AI has learned human patterns and
is learning more complex and subtle human patterns
through interaction with humans.

It is becoming increasingly difficult
to gauge the performance and capabilities of AI.

In fact, the essence is not about what AI is,
but rather how people perceive AI. 

Great works (writing, art, music, movies, etc) create a space
where people can actively think and appreciate,
and through such natural dynamics, they engage people. 

Politicians, artists, influencers
who lead many people’s minds are
all people who excel in that ability. 

While there has been amazing progress
in the tasks itself performed by AI,
in terms of interaction,
AI and humans are accumulating experiences
by exchanging simple input/output patterns so far.
(giving direction and answer)

However,
what if AI learns human attraction skills as well? 

I think this would be the next innovative step of AI work.

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This is the trailer for the movie <Rubber>.

It won Best Picture at the <Bucheon International Film Festival>.

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