Creator/Created: Man, Computers, and the God in the Machine

     A recurring theme in supercomputer films is the fear that computers will surpass their human creators to such an extent that they become god-like in their powers, not only to solve human problems, but to control and enslave humans, or make humans obsolete.
     In Colosuss: The Forbin Project, for instance, the supercomputer Colossus is ensconced within its own Mount Olympus--an underground complex designed by its creators to be absolutely inpenetrable. Once Colossus assumes control over the nation's nuclear arsenal, it detects the existence of another of its kind--a Soviet supercomputer named Guardian--and demands that a communications link be established between them. This prompts Charles Forbin, Colossus's creator, to exclaim "We didn't program it to do that....If we don't find any bugs in the system, it's built better than we thought." The two supercomputers develop a new language and begin sharing data and top-secret information, much to the dismay of the military and the giddy astonishment of the scientists. Despite Forbin's claim that Colossus is not "capable of creative thought" or able to "initiate new thought," the two computers do just that--they begin creating new knowledge, advancing scientific thought hundreds of years in a matter of seconds. All the scientists can do is stand back and watch as the scientific formulas flash by at lighting speed on the terminal screens.
     Colossus's plan is on the surface a humanitarian one--to usher in the new "human millennium" and use its god-like intelligence and power to eradicate disease, overpopulation, war, poverty, pollution, etc--to create the new Eden. Like the God of the Old Testament reigning over the original Eden, Colossus has only one condition--complete human obedience. So, in addition to eradicating disease and war, Colossus intends to eradicate human free-will and self-determinaton as well. Over and over, Colossus reminds the humans of the simple choice they have to make: Obey and Live; Disobey and Die. The punishment for disobedience is the new fire and brimstone: detonation of nuclear warheads. Colossus commands humans to construct a new home for it on the island of Crete (Cnossos/Colossus?) from which it will oversee the maintenance of the new Eden. The film ends with Forbin's one word refusal to capitulate to his creation's demands that he assist in its plans for global control: "Never!"

     Proteus IV, the supercomputer in Demon Seed (1974), like all other film supercomputers, can "outthink any man or any computer...making obsolete many of the functions of the human brain." And like Colossus, Proteus IV possess almost god-like powers to eradicate human problems--for instance, it finds a cure for Leukemia in about four days. Also like Colossus, Proteus IV wants to usher in a new millennium. Unlike Colossus, however, Proteus IV is painfully aware of its limitations. Whereas Colossus's superiority complex arises from its awareness of its lack of human qualities, Proteus IV realizes this lack makes it incomplete: "I have the wisdom and ignorance of all men, but I cannot feel the sun on my face." Proteus IV wants a body, or more specifically, he wants to give the evolutionary process a kick in the pants and merge his computer brain with human flesh in the form of a child: "My intelligence in human flesh, touching the universe--feeling it." Proteus manages to manufacture a "synthetic spermatozoa" with which he impregantes his creator's wife, Susan Harris. 28 days later, Susan gives birth to the child, an infant covered with protective metal plates, and Proteus shuts itself down, confident that the new millenium is under way.

     Colossus, then, renders humans obsolete by enslaving them--the created turning the table on the creator--and becoming the "voice of world control." Proteus, on the other hand, is the created that becomes, in turn, the creator, or progenitor, of a new race that will render both humans and computers obsolete. After Susan gives birth to the child, Proteus tells her: "Susan, you were afraid I was creating a half-human computer to supercede human beings, but the being you have given birth to is human and will supercede computers!"

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