Darkest Dreaming

Author: secondhanddaylight

  • Orwell’s 1984 and AI: A Resemblance Too Close for Comfort

    Orwell’s 1984 and AI: A Resemblance Too Close for Comfort

    Believe it or not, I first read Orwell’s famous 1984 in 1984 itself. It’s even less believable that a 13-year-old (and yes, 13-year-olds were still considered kids back then) would be interested in Orwell at that age, but, again, believe it or not, I was. Back then, I couldn’t yet comprehend all the depths of Orwell’s thought; I experienced the book only as a brilliant work of fiction. As I grew older, however, I began to uncover layer upon layer of the book’s true essence. Later in life, I developed an interest in psychology and cybernetics, eventually graduating in both fields. Throughout this journey, I often found myself reflecting on Orwell and 1984. In the last decade, I looked at 1984 with a mixed feeling of pride and sadness. I felt pride because I believed I had “peeled off” every layer of its wisdom and uncovered all its secrets, but I was sad because I thought there was nothing more to extract from it. That was the case until very recently, when I (we) witnessed the birth of a new AI revolution in 2022.

    1984 in 2024

    Since I reflect on Orwell’s work every now and then, I recently became aware of some unsettling parallels between the dystopian world of “1984” and the new rise of AI and attention algorithms. Looking at many non-tech people around me, I was overwhelmed by the realization that the majority of the world has no idea what this new AI is capable of. Many scenes that seemed like extraordinary science fiction to the 13-year-old boy I once was can now be implemented in reality. With ease.
    In Orwell’s dystopian vision, the omnipresent telescreens served as the Party’s eyes and ears, constantly monitoring citizens’ every move and utterance. Today’s AI-powered surveillance systems bear an unsettling resemblance to this fictional technology. Advanced facial recognition algorithms can identify individuals in real-time from vast databases, while sophisticated data mining techniques sift through our digital footprints, piecing together intricate profiles of our lives, preferences, and behaviors. Unlike the clunky, visible telescreens of “1984”, modern surveillance is often invisible, embedded in the smartphones we carry, the smart home devices we install, and the public spaces we traverse. This ubiquity, coupled with AI’s ability to process and analyze massive amounts of data, creates a surveillance network potentially more pervasive and insidious than anything Orwell imagined.

    Thought Police is now

    In 1950, Theodor Adorno and a team of researchers published “The Authoritarian Personality“, arguing that certain personality types can be defined by a number of traits believed to cluster together as a result of childhood experiences. They found that observing just one of these traits in an individual allows researchers (or governments, marketing agencies, etc.) to predict that individual’s personality with a significant degree of accuracy. As more traits are identified, this predictive accuracy increases. If Adorno and his team managed this in 1950 using only a few psychological tests, consider what today’s AI can accomplish with the data we’ve been feeding into the internet over the past 20 years. Our social network pictures, visited locations, posted comments, and online purchases all contribute to this vast data pool.

    The Thought Police in “1984” punish even the mere idea of dissent. In today’s world, AI is very capable of using predictive policing, based on our entire online history, to forecast anything that interested parties (be it government or marketing agencies) desire. This capability is eerily reminiscent of policing thoughts or intentions, raising profound ethical questions about preemptively judging people based on AI predictions.

    Post-truth world

    In 1984, the past is constantly rewritten to fit the Party’s current narrative; writings are altered, images are retouched, and news articles are rewritten. Today, AI has a “black-magic-like” capability to create and alter images, texts, and even videos. AI can produce deepfake artifacts of human voices that can only be distinguished from reality by experts. The time when ordinary people cannot discern what is real from what is fake is upon us. The era of post-truth, where everything can be a lie or everything can be the truth, has begun.

    What road lies ahead?

    The answer to that question ultimately depends on your view of human nature. If you believe that people are fundamentally good, then AI could become the ultimate tool for the prosperity and advancement of our species. But if you are mistaken, then in a few years, we may look back on 1984 and wonder why that world was considered dystopian.

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  • Outlast: So Immersive, It Will Force You to Turn the Lights On

    Outlast: So Immersive, It Will Force You to Turn the Lights On

    Slasher horror movies are far more terrifying when you’re young. As a child, you’re genuinely frightened by the on-screen action, almost feeling as if you’re there with the unfortunate victims fleeing from the killer. But as you grow older, you become gradually yet steadily desensitized by the plethora of horror films you’ve watched. Somewhere along the path to adulthood, you realize that those ill-fated souls didn’t actually slaugtered during those horrific scenes—they’re alive and well, ready to star in another movie. By the time you hit thirty, little remains of that genuine terror you once experienced while watching “Halloween” on a late summer night as a naive child. You believed that feeling was gone for good.

    You were wrong.

    In 2013, developer Red Barrels offered you the opportunity to relive all your slasher movie fears once again by putting you in the shoes of a slasher film’s protagonist. But you’re not an ordinary protagonist, and this is no ordinary movie. In their immersive masterpiece “Outlast“, you won’t just rekindle your childhood fears and thrills—you’ll experience them a hundredfold stronger.

    Your Goal: Outlast

    The game starts like this: You step into the shoes of Miles Upshur, a freelance investigative journalist drawn to the Mount Massive Asylum by an anonymous tip. Armed with nothing but a camcorder and your wits, you infiltrate the seemingly abandoned facility under cover of night. What begins as a routine investigation quickly spirals into a nightmare beyond comprehension. The asylum, you discover, is far from empty. Its halls teem with deranged inmates, twisted orderlies, and something far more sinister lurking in the shadows. As you delve deeper into the bowels of Mount Massive, you uncover a horrifying conspiracy involving unethical experiments, corporate corruption, and forces that defy rational explanation. With no weapons to defend yourself, your only options are to run, hide, and desperately search for a way out of this hell on earth. But escape won’t be easy – the asylum has no intention of letting its secrets, or you, slip away.

    If this sounds to you like an “ordinary” horror game, chances are you’ll be quite surprised by the road that lies ahead. “Outlast” wasn’t the first game in this immersive “survival horror” genre (“Resident Evil” or “Silent Hill” aren’t comparable because they had guns). For me, the first game of this kind was “Amnesia: The Dark Descent,” which I wrote about in one of my previous articles, and which left me hungry for a similar experience. It wasn’t that I didn’t know what to expect from “Outlast,” but my expectations turned out to be too mild. In “Outlast,” you’re truly put in the shoes of a horror movie protagonist, and if you play in a darkened room with headphones on, it feels extremely real. Philippe Morin, Red Barrels’ co-founder, said, “The core gameplay experience is about no combat. It’s about having the player suffer,” and I cannot emphasize enough how successfully his studio achieved that goal.

    I hope you’ll believe me when I say that more than once, I found myself getting up from my chair and turning on the lights, just to make sure I was truly alone in my room.

    Is there someone under my bed?
    Is there someone under my bed?

    Saturday Night Fever

    It happens that I’m usually annoyed by jump-scares, as I find them to be the cheapest way to startle someone. But, strangely enough, I don’t mind quite a few of those in “Outlast” because they’re used only as a starter to ignite something much more intense.

    The plot and story that the game pulls you through may seem stereotypical, although it resembles real-life experiments allegedly performed by one (or possibly more) major governments. Again, strangely enough, while I typically value a good and original story, I don’t think the existing plot does anything particularly detrimental to the “Outlast” experience. I’m not sure the game would benefit from a much better or more original story; it might even detract from it. What I do know is that the existing narrative perfectly glues the gaming action around the only thing that matters in the game: staying alive.

    Turn off the lights

    If you haven’t played “Outlast” yet and you’re fond of immersive entertainment that can take you on a rollercoaster of (scary) emotions, look no further. This game will provide you with 10-15 hours of genuine, distilled fear.

  • Alone in a Darkened Room. The Count.

    Alone in a Darkened Room. The Count.

    When you’re a kid, you’re scared by a lot of things. You’re scared of a plain dark room. You’re scared of special effects in old movies that look silly when you grow up. You’re scared of the forest in bad weather. On this endless list, as far as I’m concerned, you could add Bauhaus’ dark first single, recorded in just one take: Bela Lugosi’s Dead.

    I had the experience that the first time I heard ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ it was on a scratchy radio late one night. The slow, echoing guitar and the steady, ominous beat seemed to creep out of the speakers and fill the room that I shared with my brother. Peter Murphy’s deep, haunting voice made me imagine things, and forced me to get up from the sofa and turn on the lights when the vocals kicked in.

    Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead (official video)
    Bauhaus – Bela Lugosi’s Dead (official video)

    Old man rambles: “they don’t make them like this anymore”!

    While I’m reluctant to say it, the truth is: ‘they do not make songs like this anymore’. Why? First of all, like the gradual reveal in a horror movie, the song builds tension slowly (there are good three minutes of instrumental introduction before vocals kicked in). It doesn’t startle with sudden scares, but weaves an unsettling atmosphere that lingers long after the final note fades. The near-ten-minute runtime feels like an eternity, a slow motion scene from a horror movie where you are the main character. Slow burning masterpiece in a world with attention span of a millisecond. This song is from some other time.

    In 1979, when Bauhaus released this track, the punk movement was giving way to something darker. ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ wasn’t just a song; it was a manifesto for a new genre. It painted in sound what Bela Lugosi had done on screen decades earlier – it gave form to generation nightmares.

    Alone in a darkened room. The count.Bauhaus, Bela Lugosi’s Dead

    Bela’s undead

    Revisiting the song now, I’m struck by how it still holds power. And not just that, more than ever, after forty years, I am convinced that Bauhaus first single is a masterpiece (and I am very reluctant in using the terms like cult and masterpiece). The fear it once instilled has transformed into appreciation for its artistry. Like the vampire count it references, ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ seems immortal, forever young in its ability to chill and captivate whoever decide to listen it to the very end.

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  • Killing of a Sacred Deer: Lost in Frustration

    Killing of a Sacred Deer: Lost in Frustration

    If you haven’t heard about the Greek tragedy that shares its name with this movie, you’ll likely struggle to fully grasp ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’. The same will happen if you view this film as anything other than a heavy metaphor. If you find yourself in either of these groups (as I once did), this explanation aims to shed new light on the film and might even change your opinion about it, for better or for worse.

    The film follows Steven Murphy, a successful cardiac surgeon, whose life takes a dark turn when he introduces a teenage boy, Martin, to his family. As strange events begin to unfold, Steven’s children suddenly become paralyzed, and he’s faced with an impossible choice.

    Down with the tradition!

    The film’s cryptic nature stems from its deliberate subversion of traditional storytelling. Lanthimos employs a cold, detached style that keeps viewers at arm’s length, making it challenging to connect emotionally with the characters or fully grasp their motivations. The dialogue is often stilted and unnatural, further contributing to the sense of unease and disconnection. These artistic choices, while intentional, can leave audiences feeling confused or alienated if they’re not prepared to engage with the film on a more symbolic level.

    This is where understanding the Greek tragedy connection becomes crucial. The film’s title alludes to the myth of Iphigenia, a story of sacrifice and moral dilemma that provides a framework for interpreting the events of the movie. Without this context, many of the film’s choices may seem arbitrary or nonsensical, when in fact they’re carefully crafted allusions to this ancient tale.

    Sacrifices and choices

    In Greek mythology, Iphigenia was the daughter of Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek forces in the Trojan War. As the Greek fleet prepared to sail for Troy, they were becalmed at Aulis due to Artemis’s anger. The goddess had been offended by Agamemnon, who had either boasted that he was a better hunter than her or had killed one of her sacred animals.

    To appease Artemis and allow the fleet to sail, Agamemnon was told he must sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia. Faced with an impossible choice between his daughter’s life and his duty as a leader, Agamemnon ultimately decided to sacrifice Iphigenia for the greater good of the Greek army.

    This myth encapsulates themes of sacrifice, moral dilemma, and the tension between personal loyalty and larger responsibilities – all of which are central to Lanthimos’s film. The ‘sacred deer’ in the title refers to the animal sacred to Artemis, drawing a direct line between the ancient myth and the modern story.

    Lost in frustration

    But even if you’re aware of this connection with Greek mythology and understand that the movie is a heavy metaphor, I bet you couldn’t escape the feeling that something is just not right. As events unfold in the movie, you might first ask yourself: ‘Is this some kind of hypnosis, curse, or paranormal ability?’ Then you might shift to considering ‘karma,’ but after a while, you start to realize that the movie is some kind of metaphor. But a metaphor for what? It seems that even the movie’s director, Yorgos Lanthimos, doesn’t have a definitive answer for that. He describes his work on the movie as an attempt ‘to create an impossible equation with an impossible answer, basically.’

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