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SYNOPSIS

Thirty years after the events of the first film, we meet a new blade runner: LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling). Blade runners hunt rogue replicants (robots who are uncannily like humans), but K is a replic­ant himself. He unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been miss­ing for 30 years (and who was the focus of the original film).

This clip follows Officer K as he returns to his flat in a grubby location, devoid of all sense of welcome. K tries to recover after a tough day at work. As he prepares his meal, K activates a holographic woman, who moves and interacts with him as is if he is real. It becomes clear that K is in some sort of relationship with this woman, despite neither of them being ‘real’.

In celebration of their anniversary, K buys the woman the ability to freely move around with him outside the house. As the viewer starts to believe she may actually be real, K’s intimate moment is interrupted by a phone call from his superior at work. After watch­ing the clip, break into small groups to discuss the following questions.

 

DISCUSS

  • Do you think this looks like a positive or negative future? Why?
  • Is K deluded for having a relationship with a computer simulation?
  • Do you think the future of artificial intelligence (AI) will make humans feel more isolated than ever before?
  • Is any part of the relationship in the clip ‘real’?

Read Genesis 2 together (if you wish to add context, read chapter 1 for a comparison). Focus in particular on the idea of dominion and the role humans have to play in the world. Once you have done that, break off into small groups to discuss the following questions.

  • Are there limits to the dominion God has given us over the earth? Does it extend to robotics?
  • In the future, should the idea of ‘loving your neighbour’ extend to robots?
  • If God created humans in his image and humans create robots in their image, are humans ‘playing God’ by creating AI, like in Genesis?
  • What is it that separates humans from other creations on the planet?

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