In the show visitors are taken into the large
park on a train, with a day costing $40,000!
The ridiculous costs could be adjusted to
inflation (perhaps it's £100,000 a day in
post-Brexit Britain) combined with the
running of such a massive organisation,
maintenance costs are high as numerous
hosts have to be repaired at the end of each
day after suffering untold punishments at
the hands of the guests.
The way the hosts are created is so
complicated that it seems like the
technology doesn't exist yet. Making a
host so lifelike that you couldn't tell the
difference between it and a real human is
the biggest challenge that would be faced
when creating such a world. So maybe it
would make more sense to use A.I within a
virtual reality setting rather than allowing
guests to destroy the robots that have been
painstakingly built.
Using a device such as an Oculus Rift
guests could visit the park to interact with
the hosts. Westworld might even be the
setting for Red Dead Redemption 6 in 2042.
However, there's not much point putting
on a headset and experiencing Westworld
if you can't get drunk off the old timey
whiskey or actively shoot at cowboys.
Westworld as we know it seems like a
long way off but when you look at how
fast artificial intelligence is evolving then
who knows, there could be some form of
disposable android that can be destroyed
without needing repairs.
The Westworld series is based on a film by
the same name.
Another problem with AI is the potential
lethal capacity it possesses, Elon Musk
recently tweeted the need to be careful with
AI. A robot with a programmed objective
could potentially never stop until it has met
its objective, especially if it feels no empathy
for actual humans.
There are many challenges that the
scientists would face if re-creating
Westworld, at the moment it all seems a
long way off but it's nice to keep an open
mind, we have established that it's not
possible at the moment but that is an aspect
that makes the show so interesting! If you
haven't watched Westworld yet then it is
highly recommended. In the meantime keep
talking to Siri. More at Guestlist.net
ISSUE 93 / 2016
TECHNOLOGY
HBO's latest hit series is Westworld. Set in a sordid Jurassic Park-esque Wild West theme park visitors can do what they
want to the various 'hosts', androids that are so human they can only be distinguished by their lack of consciousness. Yet,
could this become a reality?
16
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND WESTWORLD, IS IT POSSIBLE?