Meet Erica, the world’s most human-like autonomous android. From its title alone, this documentary promises a sensational encounter. As the screen fades in from black, a marimba tinkles lightly in the background and a Japanese alleyway appears. Various narrators ask us:
“What does it mean to think?”
“What is human creativity?”
“What does it mean to have a personality?”
“What is an interaction?”
“What is a minimal definition of humans?”
The title, these questions, and nearly everything that follows mislead. This article is an installment in a series of posts addressing the various sources of misinformation feeding the present AI hype cycle.
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