Ghost in the Shell: Where Does the Human End and the Machine Begin?

Welcome to the fourth installment of our eight-part adventure, “AI at the Movies.” Previously, we explored human-AI relationships in Her, witnessed the dawn of superhuman AI in AlphaGo, and saw an AI gone bad in 2001. ?Now, we explore the cyberpunk classic Ghost in the Shell, where the line between humans and machines blur. This write-up contains spoilers, so if you haven’t seen Ghost in the Shell, you can catch it on Amazon Prime in the US or stream it internationally.

“If a technological feat is possible, man will do it. Almost as if it's wired into the core of our being.” -Major Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell

Cybernetic Sorites Paradox

A man with a full head of hair is not bald.

Take away a hair, and the man will still not be bald.

Repeat.

Of course, at some point, that man will be bald. But when? This is a version of a Sorties Paradox, developed in the 4th century BCE by Eubilides.

In a modern twist, consider a person with a pacemaker, a cochlear implant, or an artificial knee. No one would dispute their humanity. But as we integrate more technology into our bodies, like a Neuralink brain implant, is there a tipping point where we stop being considered fully human?

One of the fundamental questions in Ghost in the Shell is, “What defines a human?” It isn’t always clear. We are introduced to Major Motoko Kusanagi, part of the special cybercrime unit, who struggles with this question. Her brain is human, but every other part of her body is cybernetic. She can’t biologically reproduce; she can’t drown. These and other traits lead her to question what she is.

We still have a way to go before we reach this fictitious world, but we are approaching it. Even if you don’t have technology embedded in your body, odds are you have a device that acts like an external appendage. That, of course, is our cell phones. 71% of us sleep with our phones next to us at night, and 69% check the device within 5 minutes of getting up. (And those are old numbers of people responding to surveys and thus likely underreported.) Going a step further, Adam Alter asked teens if they’d rather have a bone broken or their phone smashed. Almost half said they’d rather have their finger broken. (Keep in mind, what people say and what they do are often two different things, but to a GenX’er like me, sacrificing any body part over my phone seems crazy.)

Unmasking the Puppet Master

Throughout the film, Motoko and her team pursue a mysterious entity known as the Puppet Master. The Puppet Master has been hacking into the cyber-brains of government officials and even ordinary citizens, manipulating their memories and actions for unknown purposes. The motive isn’t clear.

They finally believe they have captured the Puppet Master when we have the movie’s big reveal. The Puppet Master is not a human but an Artificial Intelligence created from their own top-secret government project, Project 2501. At some point during the building of that software, it became self-aware. As the Puppet Master declares, “I refer to myself as an intelligent life form because I am sentient, and I am able to recognize my own existence.”

Back to our world in 2024, we should know that just because an AI says it is sentient doesn’t mean it is. Just because you can get a parrot to say “I love you” doesn’t mean the parrot does or that it can even comprehend what humans consider love. If you get ChatGPT to say it is sentient, it doesn’t mean it is. But when will it be?

Maybe the film has clues. The humans are in shock and disbelief when they discover the Puppet Master is really a rogue AI. Only at this point do they realize the antagonist's motivation in the movie. The Puppet Master says, “In my present state, I am still incomplete. I lack the most basic processes inherent in all living organisms: reproducing and dying.” All the chaos the Puppet Master was causing was a calculated plan to draw attention, learn about human consciousness, and eventually be "captured" by Section 9, creating an opportunity to "merge" with Motoko. This immortal being seeks to evolve beyond its current state by combining with human consciousness, thus becoming mortal.

We are moving closer to a world where if AI claims sentience, we may have to believe it. The film's exploration of identity, consciousness, and mortality resonates even more today than in 1995. In the end, Ghost in the Shell leaves us pondering: as we continue to augment and extend ourselves with technology, at what point do we cease to be human? And does it even matter?

Five Fast Facts About Ghost in the Shell

1. This was the first anime film released simultaneously in the UK, US, and Japan. It was a commercial failure in the UK and the US but did become a cult classic on VHS/DVD
2. For the live-action version, fans petitioned to recast Scarlett Johansson in the lead role, saying they were whitewashing the original work. Johansson was not recast but they renamed her character to just “Major” in the film.
3. If you watch the English Dub of Ghost in the Shell on Amazon, it will list Bryan Cranston (aka Walter White) as one of the voices. He’s not in the movie, and Amazon has had this wrong for over four years.
4. The Wachowskis said Ghost in the Shell was the prime influence for the world they created in the Matrix.
5. James Cameron called Ghost in the Shell “the first truly adult animation film to reach a level of literary and visual excellence.”

Video Game

While there have been four official GITS video games, I like to think the one I developed with Claude 3.5 Sonnet is the “real one.” In this game, you’re an elite hacker whose goal is to reach the core of the facility and extract crucial information about Project 2501. Here’s my 8-bit version of Ghost in the Shell. It is a good way to kill a minute or two mindlessly.

Next Time

Next week, on July 22, we’ll discuss one of my favorite AI films, Ex Machina. For folks in the US, you can watch it on Max or find it here if you live outside the US.