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The Japanese engineer Hiroshi Ishiguro has spent much of his life building robots to simulate human behaviours as closely as possible. And with Erica, a female humanoid that Ishiguro created with scientists from the universities of Kyoto University and Osaka, and the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute (ATR), he believes he’s built the ‘most human-like, autonomous android in this world’. In Erica: Man Made, the Romanian director Ilinca Calugareanu profiles Ishiguro and his prized creation, which has been built and programmed to simulate a ‘beautiful’ 23-year-old woman from Kyoto – and one that, as Erica mentions, is still patiently awaiting the ability to move its arms and legs. Surreal and thought-provoking, Calugareanu’s film raises many challenging questions about our potentially post-human future: are robot servants really on the near horizon? Is any attempt to simulate humanity bound to hit an uncanny valley? And to what extent will the human attitudes, intentions and desires of engineers shape the AI landscape?
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Art
What does an AI make of what it sees in a contemporary art museum?
15 minutes
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Personality
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14 minutes
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Ecology and environmental sciences
Producing food while restoring the planet – a glimpse of farming in the future
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Astronomy
From zero to 5,000 – music and visuals express 30 years of exoplanet discoveries
1 minute
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Ecology and environmental sciences
Yo-Yo Ma performs a work for cello in the woods, accompanied by a birdsong chorus
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Love and friendship
Skiing blind is a challenge – but it helps to have a loved one to guide you
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Art
A massive art installation attempts to put the COVID-19 deaths in perspective
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Music
Nick ponders the life of the mysterious girl whose used CDs shaped his teenage years
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Mood and emotion
A century of letters captures the emotions of life in a new city, far from home
21 minutes