I'm
aware that Ready Player One is a book, and it's a book I haven't read. I
saw the Steven Spielberg movie, and I definitely approved. Movies about
virtual worlds and artificial intelligence are interesting to me, and
it has a lot to do with the idea that we're heading in that direction
with the technology we have. Ernest Cline rose to prominence as an
author because of this book, which immediately got optioned as a movie.
In fact, there was immediately interest in a sequel to the movie, and
Cline started writing the book.
The book came
out, and critics haven't been very kind to it. I'm not going to comment
on it as I haven't read the book. It would be unfair of me to negatively
review content of a book I haven't read. I'm basically coming into this
franchise via the movie, and I'm also aware that sometimes movies don't
follow what's written in the book. It's those pesky creative changes
that are made sometimes in the name of the belief that what's written in
the book won't translate to the screen. I have read a synopsis of what
took place in the sequel book, and to me I can't help but think there's a
missed opportunity.
At this point, I'm going
to give the warning of spoilers. Most likely, anybody who cares enough
has already seen the movie or read the books or both. However, if you
intend to and haven't, there might be spoilers beyond this point. I also
advise you to check out the movie, the book or both if you haven't. I
can vouch for the movie, and it's definitely good.
After
our heroes achieve their final goal in the quest and get control of
OASIS, there is an important scene where Wade meets a representation of
OASIS Creator James Halliday in his childhood bedroom. I'm pretty sure
it's been explained that this is just a computer-generated program. He
has long since passed away. I'm a fan of artificial intelligence
stories, although I don't think AI has any role in this particular
movie. One could argue, however, that the James Halliday Avatar is AI.
During
the course of the movie, Wade pays visits to the museum that serves to
document every moment in the life of Halliday. This is a way for people
to get clues as to how to solve the quests and win the prize in the end.
It's mentioned in the movie that most people don't even bother to go
there. What would be the point? There's no coolness factor in going to a
museum that shows moments that played out in the life of the creator of
OASIS. Only his biggest fans would even bother, right?
Let's
stop and think about this for a moment. The movie takes place in 2045,
which is only a little under 30 years from the time when the movie came
out. Even a game such as the one depicted in this movie is going to be a
big deal. It won't be treated like it's nothing. People are living
their lives in this world to get away from the depressing real world.
However, the fact that all of Halliday's big memories are meticulously
recreated this way would still be a big deal 25 years later. Think of
the technology involved.
Think about how much
programming Halliday had to do to create this museum that shows his
whole life for all to see? That's not some simple work. You're basically
seeing the big discussions and decisions that were made in his life
that led to the creation of OASIS. You see the triumphs and you see the
big mistakes he made. It seems like near the end of his life, Halliday
was more regretful of the decisions that led him where he ended up than
he was proud of his creation.
In a way, OASIS
is it's creator. His memories are all inside of the creation via the
museum itself. I'm sure most people don't even think about that as
they're watching the movie. It's just the backdrop of the story as a
certain problem is being resolved. However, it's also a strong hint that
all of the intelligence and maybe the very essence of the creator of
OASIS is inside of this game. It may not be his actual spirit, but all
of his memories are there.
We move ahead to
the end where Wade comes to get his prize. At this point, he's
interacting with the avatar of the creator of OASIS. That avatar is
answering his questions, and that has led to people wondering if he's
dead at all. Obviously, he had a funeral and was buried. In movies, that
can always be explained away that somebody faked their death to get out
of the spotlight. We're not questioning that in this article. We will
accept that at face value, but the real question is in regards to the
avatar of James Halliday.
Is he alive in an
avatar? Without question, all of the memories of his life were uploaded
into the program, and it wouldn't be a far stretch to assume that those
memories are in that avatar. He's simply living a life of quiet solitude
within his own game. Nobody cares to look for him, and he's probably
hidden away from everybody at this point. However, I think it's a fair
question to ask if he's alive in that avatar, and there are multiple
ways of looking at it.
The first is that he
did upload at least a representation of his consciousness into that
avatar. It is a part of him. He is in a sense alive. Or, the avatar is
simply a collection of his memories without his consciousness. That
still doesn't negate the possibility of artificial intelligence
achieving consciousness and becoming alive. To me, that's the real
follow-up story. It doesn't seem like artificial intelligence is much of
a thing in the universe laid out in Ready Player One.
Before
going to Ready Player Two, a sequel could have been titled Non Player
Character or something of that nature. It could have explored what was
going on with James Halliday. Was this his essence or a collection of
his memories? Was this avatar alive within the computer program? At some
point, it's determined that it is alive, and that raises big questions.
OASIS is going to become even more popular with certain powers that be
who would want to control this new discovery.
Consider
the possibility that consciousness is uploaded into a computer program.
We're talking about a shot at immortality, especially to those who are
not necessarily believers in life after death. They'd want want to cheat
death. There are actually people seeking to upload their consciousness
into computers, so this isn't a far-fetched discussion. People are
having that discussion in the real world, and we also have shows like
Upload that delve into this topic.
The sequel
to Ready Player One could have gone this way, and I think it would have
made for a much better follow up. People were already asking questions
about Halliday when they saw the scene at the end of the movie. You
could have had some entertaining game moments depicting game quests and
cool graphics. You could have crammed in some fun nostalgia, as the
books and the first movie liked to do. Then, you could have gotten to
the heart of what's going to become an even bigger discussion in our
world in the years ahead. This is the discussion that talks about the
possibility of life being created inside of a computer program.
I
find the story of Cline to be fascinating. Mostly because he's made a
major splash, and it seems to have happened overnight. He had a very
interesting concept with Ready Player One. I think at the time he
started working on the sequel, there was pressure to create something
that could be made into a movie. Sometimes an author needs a moment to
breathe without pressure, allowing for the creative energy to flow
through them naturally.
From what I have read
of the sequel book, there could still be a possibility of exploring some
of this topic in another book, but there's the danger of the franchise
running out of gas before they get the opportunity. I think the idea I'm
talking about here would have been a better way to follow up the first
book and movie. It wouldn't be about repeating everything done in the
first movie and trying to put a new spin on it, but they'd still be
working within the franchise framework. I'm still looking forward to
seeing the follow-up movie, and I might pick up the books eventually.
