As machines increasingly become an indispensable part of human lives, we often wonder: “What is the relationship between men and machines? Are they mutually exclusive or reciprocally supplementary?” We also wonder, “What would the differences between humans and robots be if the latter was made of human blood and flesh?” In fact, machines are things we cannot live without, and yet can be harmful and dangerous if misused. Thus we can neither simply dismiss machines, nor be too fascinated by their advanced technology. 

In the movie, “Matrix Reloaded,” a counselor takes protagonist Neo to the engineering room and talks about the dual aspects of machines: “I like to be reminded this city survives because of these machines,” the counselor tells Neo.

“These machines are keeping us alive while other machines are coming to kill us. Interesting, isn’t it?” Neo replies to the counselor, “But we control these machines. They don’t control us.” Then the counselor asks Neo, “What is control?” “If we wanted,” Neo answers, “we could shut these machines down.” Once again, the counselor challenges Neo, saying, “Although if we did, we’d have to consider what would happen to our lights, our heat and our air.” Neo replies, “So we need machines and they need us.”

The great Argentine writer, Jorge Luis Borges, while praising books as extensions of our imagination, inadvertently acknowledged the importance of mechanical instruments, too. He wrote: “Of all man’s instruments, the most wondrous, no doubt, is the book. The other instruments are extensions of his body.

The microscope and the telescope are extensions of his sight; the telephone is the extension of his voice; then we have the plow and the sword, extensions of the arm. But the book is something else altogether: the book is an extension of memory and imagination.” If we think in a positive way that machines can be a useful extension of our body, not something to be detested and denounced, we find no reason to be hostile toward machines and technology.

Indeed, if we are simple-minded enough to think that all machines are a threat to humans and thus shut them down, we will lose many indispensable things needed for life such as electricity, heat or air. For example, if our computers go down, our life seems to be on hold as well until the power comes back on. If we boycott machines, we will also lose our transportation to work and have to tolerate tremendous inconveniences. If we antagonize technology, we will also not be able to cure or operate on patients at hospitals. Unless we misuse or abuse them, machines can be beneficial.

The movie “Terminator Salvation,” too, reminds us of the relationship between humans and machines. In the beginning of the movie, death row inmate Marcus Wright signs his body over to the Cyberdyne System for medical research after his execution. Fifteen years later, Marcus wakes up, believing that he is still human. During his journey to the heart of Skynet, however, Marcus uncovers the terrible secret that he has turned into a cyborg with living tissue and human blood.

At the end of the movie, the protagonist John Connor is mortally wounded during his battle with Terminators. As he is dying of heart failure, Marcus offers his heart to be transplanted into John.

Thus the climax is deeply moving; a cyborg sacrifices itself to save a human being, just like the Terminator commits suicide to save human civilization at the end of “Terminator II.” Dying on the operation table, Marcus narrates: “What is it that makes us human? It’s not something you can program. You can’t put it into a chip. It’s the strength of the human heart. It’s the difference between us and machines.”

Half human, half machine, Marcus chooses to be human. Only humans can do such a “stupid thing” as giving up his own heart to someone he cares for even though he knows he will die. Thus the last scene of “Terminator Salvation” is one of the most poignant scenes in sci-fi movies, celebrating the victory of humanity over machines. The last scene also suggests that sometimes machines can be better than humans. Unlike humans who are prone to selfishness, deception and hatred, machines can be unbiased, honest and faithful.

We may argue that machines, like Terminators, can be programmed and programmed machines can be callous and ruthless, doggedly refusing to negotiate. But we can also point out that humans, too, can be easily brainwashed and brainwashed people can be brutal and merciless as well, turning a deaf ear to any kind of negotiation.

The pigheaded, ideologically programmed people in our society are a good example of human stubbornness. And deprogramming human beings is always more difficult and time-consuming than deprogramming machines.

Today we find so many obstinate, ideologically charged, machine-like people in our society. But people without humanity are not so much humans as machines. Perhaps they are worse than machines because machines that exhibit humanity can be more reliable and unbiased than humans.

By Kim Seong-kon

Kim Seong-kon is a professor of English at Seoul National University and president of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. ― Ed.