| Machine of Human Dreams | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Roy Cohen |
| Produced by |
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| Cinematography | Richard Gillespie |
| Edited by | Gregor Lyon |
| Music by | Ellyott |
Release date |
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Running time | 1 hr. 15 mins. |
| Countries | UK, Israel |
| Language | English |
Machine of Human Dreams is a 2016 documentary film written and directed by Roy Cohen. The film focuses on artificial intelligence researcher Dr. Ben Goertzel, known for his work on OpenCog, an open-source artificial general intelligence (AGI) platform.
The film offers a potrait of Goertzel’s decades-long quest to create a thinking machine, and captures his idealism, technological struggles and the human drive fueling scientic ambition.
With the financial backing of the Hong Kong government, Ben Goertzel believes he finally will realize his lifelong dream of developing human-like artificial intelligence using software that mimics the complex operation of the human mind. Assembling a ragtag team of experts to assist him, the eccentric researcher sets out to create functioning, reasoning humanoid robots. But as pressure mounts to deliver results to his investors, stories about his past enterprises expose the human consequences – and potential limits – of his ambitions
Director Cohen first met Goertzel at a conference in New York, where he became interested in Goertzel’s combination of visionary goals and practical attempts to develop a "thinking machine." The documentary was filmed over several years across multiple international locations, including laboratories at Hong Kong, and research projects in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It also features Goertzel’s collaborations with Hanson Robotics, the company known for developing expressive humanoid robots such as the Einstein prototypes. [1]
Cohen documented both the progress and setbacks of Goertzel’s work, including instances of malfunctioning prototypes and challenges in securing financial support. [1]
Machine of Human Dreams had it UK premiere at Sheffield DocFest on 11 June 2016. [1] It had its North American premiere at Doc NYC on 13 November 2016. [2] [3] In 2017, the film was subsquently screened at several film festivals in Europe, including Krakow Film Festival, [4] [5] Docville [6] and CPH:DOX. [7]
Machine of human Dreams won Best Technology Film of the Year from Russia’s Polytechnic Museum. [8]
Owen Herman of UK Film Review noted that while the personal story is compelling, the documentary ultimately "barely scratches the surface" of its subject. [9] Dayana Sobri of e27 described Machine of Human Dreams as "intellectually engaging for the inquiring minds and entertaining enough for the general public." [10]