Third International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

Over the course of cinema history, we have seen numerous depictions of post-humanity, showing the many ways the interactions between humans and machines might proceed. In reality, Hanson Robotics has been marketing Sophia’s digital mind as a lifelike machine companion, and Amazon’s Alexa is now unprompted laughing at customers. In this paper, I examine the film “Blade Runner: 2049” as a representation of a post-human world after society has integrated technology into daily life. Through the lens of media archeology, I argue the character Joi simulates the hyperreal beyond our digital assistant technology, and instead acts as a personal interface companion, paralleling our contemporary concerns regarding technology. I apply media ecology as a framework to map an intersection between reality and fiction to examine themes about technology as an extension of the self and the digital fusion of human consciousness. Technological determinism is prevalent in this conversation as I evaluate the films negotiation of humanity’s use of technology to create, define, and communicate identities. Building from the theories and concerns of industry theorists Raymond Kurzweil and Nick Bostrom, I examine “Blade Runner: 2049” as an interpretation of the parallel between post-humanism and our current technologies, whereby the film creates a discourse for anxieties surrounding consumer interface technologies, reflecting our discomfort with graphical user interface devices, Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Hanson Robotics android Sophia.