Full episode with Alex Garland (Mar 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU-mkuMU428
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Alex Garland, writer and director of many imaginative and philosophical films from the dreamlike exploration of human self-destruction in the movie Annihilation to the deep questions of consciousness and intelligence raised in the movie Ex Machina, which to me is one of the greatest movies on artificial intelligence ever made. I'm releasing this podcast to coincide with the release of his new series called Devs that will premiere this Thursday, March 5, on Hulu as part of "FX on Hulu". It explores many of the themes this very podcast is about: from quantum mechanics to artificial life to simulation to the modern nature of power in the tech world.

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Drawing inspiration from real life, so for devs, for ex machina, look at characters like Elon Musk.

What do you think about the various big technological efforts of Elon Musk and others like him that he's involved with, such as Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, do you see any of that technology potentially defining the future worlds you create in your work?

So Tesla is automation, SpaceX is space exploration, Neuralink is brain machine interface, somehow a merger of biological and electric systems.

a way, I'm influenced by that almost by definition because that's the world I live in and this is the thing that's happening in that world.

So, I think amongst various things, Elon Musk has done, I'm almost sure, he's done a very, very good thing with Tesla for all of us.

It's really kicked all the other car manufacturers in the face.

It's kicked the fossil fuel industry in the face, and they needed kicking in the face, and he's done it.

So, and so, that's the world he's part of creating, and I live in that world.

And so, does that play into whatever I then make?

In some ways, it does, partly because I try to be a writer who quite often filmmakers are in some ways fixated on the films they grew up with and they sort of remake those films in some ways.

And so I looked at the real world to get inspiration and as much as possible sort of by living, I think.

Which of the directions do you find most exciting?

So you haven't really explored space travel in your work.

You've said something like, if you had unlimited amount of money, I think I read it at AMA, that you would make a multi-year series of space wars or something like that.

So What is it that excites you about space exploration?

Well, because if we have any sort of long-term future, it's that.

If energy and matter are linked up in the way we think they're linked up, we'll run out if we don't move.

It's built into us to do it or die trying.

I was on Easter Island, a few months ago, which is, as I'm sure you know, in the middle of the Pacific and difficult for people to have got to, but they got there.

And I did think a lot about the way those boats must have set out into something like space.

And how sort of fundamental that was to the way we are.

And it's the 1 that most excites me because it's the 1 I want most to happen.

It's the thing, it's the place where we could get to as humans.

Like in a way, I could live with us never really unlocking, fully unlocking the nature of consciousness.

But if we never leave the solar system and if we never get further out into this galaxy or maybe even galaxies beyond our galaxy, That would, that feels sad to me because it's so limiting.

Yeah, there's something hopeful and beautiful about reaching out, any kind of exploration, reaching out across Earth centuries ago and then reaching out into space.

So what do you think about colonization of Mars?

So going to Mars, does that excite you, the idea of a human being stepping foot on Mars?

But in terms of what would really excite me, it would be leaving the solar system.

In as much as that I just think, I think we already know quite a lot about Mars.

But yes, listen, if it happened, that would be, I hope I see it in my lifetime.


Speaker 0: Drawing inspiration from real life, so for devs, for ex machina, look at characters like Elon Musk. What do you think about the various big technological efforts of Elon Musk and others like him that he's involved with, such as Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, do you see any of that technology potentially defining the future worlds you create in your work? So Tesla is automation, SpaceX is space exploration, Neuralink is brain machine interface, somehow a merger of biological and electric systems. I'm, in

Speaker 1: a way, I'm influenced by that almost by definition because that's the world I live in and this is the thing that's happening in that world. And I also feel supportive of it. So, I think amongst various things, Elon Musk has done, I'm almost sure, he's done a very, very good thing with Tesla for all of us. It's really kicked all the other car manufacturers in the face. It's kicked the fossil fuel industry in the face, and they needed kicking in the face, and he's done it.

So, and so, that's the world he's part of creating, and I live in that world. Just bought a Tesla, in fact. And so, does that play into whatever I then make? In some ways, it does, partly because I try to be a writer who quite often filmmakers are in some ways fixated on the films they grew up with and they sort of remake those films in some ways. I've always tried to avoid that.

And so I looked at the real world to get inspiration and as much as possible sort of by living, I think. And so, yeah, I'm sure.

Speaker 0: Which of the directions do you find most exciting?

Speaker 1: Space travel.

Speaker 0: Space travel. So you haven't really explored space travel in your work. You've said something like, if you had unlimited amount of money, I think I read it at AMA, that you would make a multi-year series of space wars or something like that. So What is it that excites you about space exploration?

Speaker 1: Well, because if we have any sort of long-term future, it's that. It just simply is that. If energy and matter are linked up in the way we think they're linked up, we'll run out if we don't move. So, we gotta move. And, but also, how can we not?

It's built into us to do it or die trying. I was on Easter Island, a few months ago, which is, as I'm sure you know, in the middle of the Pacific and difficult for people to have got to, but they got there. And I did think a lot about the way those boats must have set out into something like space. It was the ocean. And how sort of fundamental that was to the way we are.

And it's the 1 that most excites me because it's the 1 I want most to happen. It's the thing, it's the place where we could get to as humans. Like in a way, I could live with us never really unlocking, fully unlocking the nature of consciousness. I'd like to know, I'm really curious. But if we never leave the solar system and if we never get further out into this galaxy or maybe even galaxies beyond our galaxy, That would, that feels sad to me because it's so limiting.

Speaker 0: Yeah, there's something hopeful and beautiful about reaching out, any kind of exploration, reaching out across Earth centuries ago and then reaching out into space. So what do you think about colonization of Mars? So going to Mars, does that excite you, the idea of a human being stepping foot on Mars?

Speaker 1: It does, it absolutely does. But in terms of what would really excite me, it would be leaving the solar system. In as much as that I just think, I think we already know quite a lot about Mars. But yes, listen, if it happened, that would be, I hope I see it in my lifetime. I really hope I see it in my lifetime.

It would be a wonderful thing.

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Elon Musk as Inspiration for Science Fiction (Alex Garland) | AI Podcast Clips