What do slavery, sweatshops, and AI simulated dating apps have in common?
The three display humanity's power to be dismissive of ethics to gain their goals.
In the Hang the DJ, Mirror introduces viewers to characters Frank and Amy
that tests the new dating up with a high success rate supporting the role of artificial intelligence on dating. The virtual Frank and Amy are seen to be in love yet they are just simulations but upon completing their quest for love, they are deleted. The characters are not quite familiar with the technology in use, which is a disc that is used to log in their interests. It then matches the characters with blind dates to determine the length of their relationship. The entire technology is meant to find an ultimate match of two people. For Frank and Amy, instant chemistry is evident, but the app reveals that their love can only last for a 12 hours. Mirror uses rhetoric to show that humans will ignore the ethics regarding the use of AI whenever there is convenience to be gained.
Mirror uses pathos or the appeal to emotions to provoke the audience
and draw their attention to the dating app. He uses heavy emotional scenes to connect his audience with the virtual couple who go through simulations. The misuse of AI is evident in the scenes showing the stimulations the two have to go through and their deletion on completion. Virtual James goes though a one-year love relationship while Amy experiences several meaningless relationships. The audience is manipulated to believe that the characters are in love only to be separated later when they seem to be approaching marriage. Despite the actors being virtual, the pain that they experience through stimulations affects the audience emotions. Once they fulfill the purpose of capturing the minds of the audience, they are deleted portraying the end of their romantic relationship. Despite understanding, the impact the experiences of the virtual characters have on the audience Mirror ignores all ethical considerations of the characters such as feelings of misery, guilt, and desire. The interest is to attract the audience attention throughout the acts without minding about the emotional impact. The characters undergo emotional torture and waste a lot of time in a relationship that breaks later after which they unknowingly end their life. This reveals that the actors are no longer needed as the simulator murders them after achieving the desired goal. Making the two experiences all the emotions that human beings have helped Mirror to attract the attention of his audience who get attached to the actors. Once the characters are eliminated, the audience feels extreme pain due to the suffering they went through yet the simulator has no concern for such impacts. He ignores all ethical concerns such as psychological impact the AI dating has on the viewers concentrating on emotional scenes that help in forming the bond between the audience and the characters.
Hang the DJ also employs Logos by utilizing logic and facts
for strengthening the message that humans will abuse the power of AI for their convenience. For instance, Mirror uses historical behavior of humans associated with ignoring ethics for their own benefits. Humans have been associated with slavery and child labor to benefit themselves by cutting down production costs. Toady individuals continuously ignore manufacturing standards and produce low-quality goods that they sell conveniently to the consumers. The same phenomenon applies to the human treatment of AI in various fields just for self-benefits. The power of AI is evident in multiple areas including agriculture, military, government, healthcare, and marketing among others. Mirror wants to show that humans are fond of taking advantage of technology without bothering about ethical consequences on humans by using AI in dating apps. Some of the applications in the market include Bernie (2014), Hily (2017), and BELONG (2017). The audience can relate the events that are happening in the game with the apps that they have already come across offering dating services. Hang the DJ uses the artificial world with brightly colored cabins, talking devices, and soulless restaurants. Since humans have been exposed to other artificial intelligence devices and dating apps, the audience feels connected with the characters and the happenings in different scenes. For instance, in one of the scenes, Amy experiences different relationships and sexual encounter. However, Amy and Frank are just simulations of many digital versions of their real selves. The kind of dating behavior portrayed reveals lack of morals in the modern world. Mirror uses technology to show that humans will do anything that benefits them financially or economically without considering the ethical impacts on the society. Throughout the acting that takes an hour, the audience sees Frank and Amy as real people, but the ending may be disturbing. Why should a relationship that seems working end in a break up at the end? The ending leaves the audience pondering the ethics of creating a thousand digital individuals then erasing them after fulfilling their purpose.
Mirror also uses ethos that involves an appeal to authority to convince the audience
and attract their attention. Several dating apps such as Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, and Scruff enable people to interact with the characters they appear attractive. Mirror invites the audience to use fantasy of the dating app in their own lives, their relationship, as well as finding love. For instance, the viewers need to imagine how they would act if they discovered that their relationship had an expiry date. Thus, the audience has to follow the happenings until the end attentively to see the outcome. Hang the DJ therefore has authority over the audience by using technology to help in making life decisions. Mirror's work is credible as it relates to modern advancement in artificial intelligence in the gaming and dating virtual world. The app act as the dating coach to Frank and Amy that appears vulnerable but hopeful for a love relationship. Mirror has his way of commanding authority over the audience to reveal the far humans can go and ignore ethics to achieve their goals. The fact is that human beings have become addicted to technology in which people are ready to trust an algorithm to determine their love relationships.
In conclusion
Mirror brings out the challenges of modern dating in an emotional, logical, and authoritative way. The dating app is based on recent technology involving artificial intelligence and interference with human ethics. Human beings are ready to use the AI without caring about the consequences it has on their physical and psychological people. The app seems to dictate the characters' lives in the modern world in which technology can have positive and negative impacts on users.
