In the midst of the inaugural episode of “Alien: Earth,” the main character, an android housing the consciousness of a terminally ill child, ponders, “If I am not human, what am I?” By the end of the episode, the hybrid referred to as Wendy (Sydney Chandler) proclaims, “I am human.”
Noah Hawley’s latest FX series draws a significant amount of its aesthetic from the original 1979 “Alien” movie; however, its captivating hybrid narrative resonates more with “Alien’s” controversial prequels, “Prometheus” and “Alien: Covenant,” as well as the well-received midquel, “Alien: Romulus.” Through Wendy and her hybrid companions, Hawley delves into an adaptable interpretation of “human” that stretches beyond the confines of a two-hour film.
In the series, Wendy serves as the reimagined version of Marcy, an 11-year-old (played by Florence Bensberg) coping with a terminal disease. Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin), the CEO of Prodigy Corp. and a trillionaire, convinces Marcy that she can achieve immortality by transferring her brain activity into the “body” of a formidable android. After Marcy successfully transitions into Wendy (following Marcy’s off-screen demise), Prodigy clandestinely uploads a multitude of terminal children into androids, shaped as young adults but possessing the thought processes, reasoning, and emotions of the children they once were.
Wendy clarifies to her hybrid siblings that Prodigy required youthful brains for their new bodies, as adult brains would not be suitable for the androids. This sci-fi premise and narrative requirement likely influence this differentiation between adults and children, yet the notion of converting neural activity into code is not entirely implausible. Neuralink, initiated by Elon Musk (who shares traits with Kavalier), has been working on implantable brain-computer interfaces for nearly ten years, with the goal of assisting individuals with disabilities in regaining mobility and autonomy through technological advancement. Last year, Musk revealed that Neuralink had implanted its first brain chip in a human.
“[The chip] allows you to control your phone or computer, and through those, nearly any device, simply by thinking,” Musk tweeted. “The first users will be those who have lost limb functionality. Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate quicker than a speedy typist or auctioneer.”
Neuralink’s implementation of a chip in a quadriplegic patient produced some positive outcomes but did not proceed entirely as intended.
Playing God?
David Ryan Polgar, the founder and president of the nonprofit All Tech Is Human, which partners with Silicon Valley enterprises on ethical matters, differentiates between Neuralink’s efforts and Prodigy’s accomplishments.
“While prominent companies like Neuralink are engaged in brain-computer interface development, the entire process of transferring human consciousness to a synthetic entity remains highly speculative,” Polgar articulates to Mashable. “The immense technical obstacles and ethical quandaries related to uploading human consciousness have not fully diminished futurists’ forecasts, which is why the idea manifests in ‘Alien: Earth’ as hybrids.”
Prof. Carlos Gershenson-Garcia, an empire innovation professor at the State University of New York at Binghamton, asserts that technology firms are quite a ways off from embedding our souls into robots or computer chips. (“Alien: Earth” takes place nearly a century in the future, providing them time to catch up to the storyline.)
“The primary challenge is that we still lack a comprehensive understanding of what consciousness is, as well as how it operates within us and other species,” Gershenson-Garcia explains. “We hypothesize that our brains play a role in it, but we are unsure of the specific mechanisms involved. Is it at the neuronal level? Molecular level? Quantum level? We have no clarity. So how could we aim to replicate it in machines?”
If organizations like Neuralink aspire to transfer human consciousness, would they partner with ethicists and intellectuals such as Polgar or Gershenson-Garcia, or would they operate in secrecy like the fictional Prodigy Corp.? Gershenson-Garcia expresses hope for the former, asserting that, regardless of their nature, “creating conscious machines brings about moral responsibilities that we may not be prepared to handle.”
For Polgar, he harbors numerous inquiries akin to those posed on “Alien: Earth.”
“The broader questions that the possibility of uploading human consciousness raises include whether the outcome is a continuation of the individual’s existence or a novel, modified entity, as well as whether the pursuit of eternal life is a noble endeavor,” he expresses. “Living forever is the ultimate Faustian Bargain, a yearning that should neither be pursued nor embraced. Ironically, the very essence of life is interwoven with its fragility. Thus, while the aspiration to upload consciousness for everlasting life is a dream for many, it would lead us all into a dystopian reality.”