Sidewalk Film Center Birmingham, AL
Stephen Fitz
Artificial Intelligence Scientist
Her— Machine Consciousness
Program Description
Join us for an engaging evening exploring artificial intelligence and human connection. AI scientist Stephen Fitz will present “Machine Consciousness,” a thought-provoking talk examining whether machines can truly think, feel, or become self-aware after a screening of Her. After the film and presentation attendees can reflect on the film’s themes and connect them to real-world advances in AI through a Q&A.
This event is part of the National Evening of Science on Screen. Learn more.
Presented At
Sidewalk Film Center Birmingham, AL
Film Synopsis
A lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with his newly purchased operating system that's designed to meet his every need.
In the near future, a sensitive and soulful man earns a living by writing personal letters for other people. Left heartbroken after his marriage ends, Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) forms an unlikely bond with a new operating system that has the capacity to develop into an intuitive and unique entity in its own right. He starts the program and meets the voice behind the OS1, Samantha (Scarlett Johansson). Though friends initially, the relationship soon deepens into love. Nominated for five Academy Awards, this film marks director-producer Spike Jonze’s solo screenwriting debut.
About the Speaker
Stephen Fitz is an artificial intelligence scientist with diverse interests in the field. Much of his current research focuses on the conditions under which minds arise: how information-processing systems come to model themselves and the external reality, form goals, relate to others, and adapt over time. He is especially interested in systems that exhibit emergent behavior: structures that are not designed explicitly but unfold through learning, interaction, and self-organization. Stephen is now predominantly focused on the emerging fields of machine consciousness, machine psychology, and neuroevolution, with the main goal of understanding the principles that give rise to awareness and agency. Stephen studied mathematics, linguistics, and computer science at Columbia University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Chicago, and served as a specially appointed professor at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan. He is a founding member of the California Institute for Machine Consciousness and has sustained long-term collaborations with leading research centers in industry and academia across the US, Europe, and Asia.