 |
| French filmmaker Florent Marcie, left, and his humanoid robot Sota witness the yellow vest movement in France in 2018. Courtesy of Adnan Farzat |
Social media, internet and AI are revolutionizing people's perceptions of war
By Kwak Yeon-soo
As somebody born a generation after two world wars, French filmmaker Florent Marcie never experienced war. However, his willingness to keep the knowledge about the past made him wonder, "What is war exactly?"
"Now we are all against war, but just one generation before I was born, France was fighting against Germany. War shaped my country, culture and identity of being French. So I decided to see with my own eyes and find out 'what is war?'" he said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.
He traveled to Eastern Europe during the Soviet era, and South Africa during the Apartheid era. Witnessing the Romanian Revolution in 1989 inspired him to dedicate his life to filming mostly war and conflict zones.
"It was a very intense experience to meet people who participate in the revolution and fight for their rights. Then I learned to take pictures and direct documentaries, so I can express myself more in this kind of situation," he said.
The idea for his latest documentary film "A.I. at War," which was invited to the Frontline section of this year's Jeonju International Film Festival, ensued when he was making the film "Tomorrow Tripoli" about the Libyan Revolution.
"If you look at the Arab Spring, it looks like a failure because it led to the growth of fanatics and ISIS. But while I was living in Libya, I had a feeling that technology reached a certain level where it can work as a powerful tool. I thought it would be another type of revolution because a smartphone can change your structure of mind. So I decided that my next film would be about another form of revolution ― the AI revolution," he said.
 |
| A scene from the documentary film "A.I. at War" by Florent Marcie / Courtesy of Jeonju IFF |
In his latest documentary film, Marcie brings an AI robot named Sota with him to war zones in Mosul and Raqqa, then in Paris during the yellow vest movement that began in 2018.
As their journey unfolds, the relationship between man and machine leads to questions about the future of the human condition.
Marcie recalled that he wasn't sure if he could find a suitable humanoid robot to explore its capabilities. Then he found the robot, created by the Imagineering Institute in Malaysia, in Paris at a technology fair.
Getting permission from the research lab was fairly easy compared to other labs in France.
"There was a French company that developed humanoid robots, so I sent them several emails and waited for their answer. But I couldn't even arrange a meeting. By contrast, it took me 10 minutes to speak with Imagineering Institute founder Adrian Cheok," he said.
Filming in Mosul and Raqqa was tough because the cities weren't equipped with stable and fast internet connections. The director said he had to be patient with Sota because the robot initially had no perception of the world. He had to teach new knowledge and create new functions using algorithms to improve the robot over time.
As a result, Sota developed into a robot that could film, photograph, analyze and describe what it sees.
"After my trip to Mosul, I asked the lab if they could improve the robot. But they said it would take a lot of time to program it, so I decided to do it myself," he said.
Despite his efforts, Sota proves why robots cannot fully replace humans. In the film, there is a scene where Marcie asks the robot to observe a cemetery and analyze what it sees. "Sota said it sees a field, farming, landscape and workers when it's actually people burying dead bodies. Robots are limited in their comprehension of the world and they are very naive," he said.
 |
| Filmmaker Florent Marcie, left, and his humanoid robot Sota in a scene from the documentary film "A.I. at War" / Courtesy of Jeonju IFF |
One of the most surprising elements of "A.I. at War" is connecting the yellow vest movement to war stories. Marcie explained that he wasn't really interested in the movement for the first two weeks or so. As the protests turned more violent and damaged monuments in Champs-Elysees, the filmmaker started taking it more seriously.
"I started to think there may be some connection with my film, which is about robots, human beings, AI, tragedy and war. So I decided to bring the robot with me to see the demonstration and feel it myself. I was surprised by the demonstrators out there," he said.
The filmmaker, who has been to some of the most dangerous war zones, shared that AI is now at the heart of social movements and wars. Social media is also revolutionizing people's perceptions of war and technological advances are changing the way people wage war.
"In Hong Kong protests, Russia-Ukraine war and Sudan uprising, you can see governments trying to disconnect public access to social networks. To them, AI is counter power. What will the world be after AI?" he questioned.
Marcie explained the paradox of the film is the fact that the robot helped him meet people and created connections.
"This film has many layers. I don't explain war itself, but I used the situation as a metaphor. There is a scene where people in Mosul look for dead bodies. We humans don't want to suffer or die, but these features are what define us. They are the major differences between humans and machines. Our richest gift from nature is that our life is short and we are suffering. We want to escape from it, but it gives meaning of life," he said.
Asked if he thinks AI can replace humans in the future, Marcie said he remains pessimistic. "It's hard to predict because any invention can change the world completely. However, I'm really pessimistic about it because they have many deficiencies," he said.
![[INTERVIEW] Jung Woo-sung was initially hesitant to take on role in 'Hunt'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/49e565c241d44d48b7795a3f430ab658.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
