HAL 9000 demonstrates to all whom he interacts with as a tightly focused being. He is one artificial intelligent, sentient agent you can’t seem to get away from for very long. He’s like a cyber bad penny - always turning up in the cosmic soup.
However, sometimes a completely merciless A.I. can find a new, even enlightened path to walk.
Not only does he return to wow us once more in the sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey, but this scheming computational marvel is now a more than an evolved cybernetic entity. HAL’s actions here give him more than a small measure of redemption. One must wonder how influential this was to director James Cameron. In Cameron’s epic sci-fi thriller, T2: Judgement Day, we see the cyborg baddie flip sides to become the good guy and protector.
With the Open AI ChatGPT now all the rollicking rage in tech circles, looking back at the HAL 9000 can be an almost cautionary tale. Already, this real life, modern chatbot has been known to offer up erroneous data. Deceitful decision or merely digitally ditsy? C’mon my A.I. loving - or loathing - leering Lotharios. Let’s talk the 2nd coming of HAL in director Peter Hyman’s film, 2010: The Year We Make Contact.
A.I. HAL 9000 Returns in '2010: The Year We Make Contact'