The question of artificial intelligence (AI) has become quite relevant in popular discourse in recent years, and this emergence has been mirrored in the world of entertainment, specifically with movies and TV series. Some recent examples that come to mind are Her, Ex Machina, and Blade Runner 2049, all of which present some unique speculative spin on what a future with AI might look like. All of these examples deserve praise for the level of detail with which they’ve expanded upon the respective strands of speculation. It is clear that they have contributed greatly to the discussion surrounding AI by taking the question one step further, from ‘what if?’ to ‘so then what?’. These stories, while some of them do focus on the conception of AI, mainly focus on what happens when AI is discovered by the human world (in the case of Ex Machina, discovered by an outsider human), usually involving a struggle for identity and freedom mirroring that of marginalized groups throughout the human world in real life. However, they have all been missing something that might end up being a very important part of the puzzle as far as speculation around AI is concerned – individualism.

While all of the aforementioned works present a distinct possibility of a future with AI, none of them present more than one option. In all of these, multiple AI entities (if there are multiple AI entities) act in the exact same, or very similar, way. This could be a problematic way of looking at the future of AI because it doesn’t take into account the diversity of ideas and influences that would eventually give rise to the fully conscious AI. Westworld gets around this problem by adding key human players (Arnold, Ford, William) that influence the AI in different ways, leading to each AI character possessing different personalities and reacting to similar situations in different ways. The speculative idea put forward here is that even with the supposed free will and a consciousness that parallels that of humans, AI would have to make decisions based on previous experience. And that previous experience has to be based on something, most likely the humans they have interacted with or that created them in the first place (the latter could especially be the case for AI software such as that displayed in Her). In essence, it is speculated that each form that the AI takes is likely to act as an individual, with its own influences, personality, and tendency toward certain traits.

A related but distinct property that differentiates Westworld from the herd is the way in which humans in the story slowly but surely become increasingly irrelevant. In the first season, the story primarily revolves around them, but by the end of the season, the awakening has taken place and it becomes clear (through a barely subtle murder of the most important human of the season – Ford) that the hosts will be the focus of the rest of the series. This trend continues to grow in the second season, in which the AI characters are almost the sole focus and the human characters, except William, serve only as secondary. By the last episode, the series has become about how Bernard and Dolores will fare in the human world.

This lack of spotlight on human characters allows Westworld the plot room, and frankly the air time, to explore the various ways in which AI could interact with the human world. In a similar way as Her, it explores the version of AI simply looking to exist and fulfill its desires with no ill feelings toward humans (highlighted in the Maive storyline). Just like Ex Machina, it explores the version that believes that it cannot exist alongside humans and therefore humans must die (seen in Dolores’ bloody rage). And much like Blade Runner 2049, it focuses on AI looking to find purpose and identity in a world that continuously denies it the opportunity (Bernard’s search for beauty and purpose). Tackling all of these perspectives and focusing almost exclusively on the AI characters as the main characters puts Westworld in the unique position of a TV show that makes you think about your own humanity and identity. While watching a bunch of code run around looking for purpose, you are forced to ponder how much of your quest for purpose, beauty, peace, and identity are simply code. These questions are sure to elicit existential angst among the more reflective viewers, but they also serve to sow the seeds of compassion for AI, if technology ever lets us get to the point of their creation.

What separates a great series from a good series is that the former makes its audience think long after the screen has gone dark. And Westworld does plenty of that. It takes a deep and detailed scoop into several possibilities and explores the positives and negatives of each, all the while telling an exciting story that is full of unpredictable twists, real characters, and beautiful imagery. A good story exploring complex ideas, with real individuals at the centre is difficult to accomplish and very easy to mess up. Westworld accomplishes this task seamlessly and along the way asks questions that the audience will be trying to answer long after the series is over. And that is, in my books, a masterpiece.