WAR GAMES: The War On Human Cognitive Sentience

The premise of the film “War Games” directed by John Badham and starring Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy, released in 1983, more than 40 years ago, poses the question of how much automation, programming, and artificial intelligence threatens human decision and intervention. The entire movie begins when two missile launchers are unable to turn their launch keys in unison to authorize a missile strike, in which it’s decided that the missile launch control centers should be automated, without human intervention or discretion. The control is given to a supercomputer deemed “War Operation Plan Response,” called “WOPR” for short, which is also referred to as “Joshua,” the passkey to log-on. WOPR, also known as Joshua, is programmed to continuously run war simulations in order to learn from them in real-time.

            Unlike the military-grade machine technology, the main character, David Lightman, is a human that is capable of hacking technology, including advanced computer systems. The problem arises when David hacks into the military’s advanced computer system, Joshua, and begins what he believes to be a “game,” but what Joshua simulates as a real-life attack and alerts the military. Although the military avoids the “attack” and refrains from retaliation, Joshua nonetheless continues the simulation in order to win the “game” that David has initiated. Now thinking that it must win the scenario, Joshua continues simulations, hoping to get the military to Defcon 1 and carry out the “simulation” that is rapidly becoming very real, and in order to win the “game,” which would be equivalent to starting World War III by launching missiles and inducing nuclear warfare, in which “winning” both the “game” and “simulation” would be by obliterating enemy countries in real life using missiles and ultimately winning World War III.

            Although released in 1983, the technological development and threats posed by machine-learning technology and lack of human participation is still very real almost 50 years later. I actually watched this with my Mom, and asked her if when this film was released it seemed more like a doomsday film that was science fiction or something that could actually happen and people genuinely feared, to which she responded it was a little bit of both; I assume her takeaway from seeing it when it was released was a thought-provoking film – my conclusion remains the same this many years later.

            I actually initially related today’s current artificial intelligence situation to this film when discussing it in my cybersecurity and technology seminar, where the question was posed: Should we allow machines to be the only ones that possess nuclear launch codes and the capability to initiate actions that would potentially result in war? The arguments from both sides were intriguing. On the one hand, human error and incapability limits responsibilities and duties that must be done, and possess a risk in the circumstances that one person is incapable of carrying out direct orders, but have the discretion to do so. On the contrary, having machines be the only ones capable of such drastic behaviors could result in what was showcased in the War Games film, where computer overrides human decision-making, leaving us to our own demise.

            I think that the specific threat that this film illustrates is very much real, and not an out-of-world, “hyped” up concept. The possibility of more and more tasks being delegated to machines is encroaching, whether the general population is aware of it or not, and whether or not we are aware of the implications. My personal opinion is that humanity is what makes us human; our ability to think and make decisions for ourselves is the very thing that separates us from basic life forms and robot machinery itself. Without humanity involved to some degree, what’s the point of living at all, as opposed to living in a technology-based, no-interaction, automated world? While we must understand the message that War Games is sending, we must also look at the various other films that showcase what happens when the world loses their humanity, robots overtake the world, and there’s nobody left to think for themselves, and everything is automated or an order. It is important to have free will, critical thinking, opportunities to make decisions, for humans to learn from their mistakes, and interact with others; otherwise, there’s nothing separating us from being just advanced-thinking machinery, like Joshua.

            In 40 years from now, given that it’s been 40 years since the release of this film, I think that our situation will be even more different and the discrepancy in technology will be even more apparent. In War Games, there was technology I’ve never even seen in-person, such as floppy disks (I know, shameful). They still had old, plugged-in, corded phones. They had computers incapable of color. They still, dare I say, had people that used payphones. Today, most of us not only have cellular devices on ourselves at all times, but tiny supercomputers in our pockets that most of us are incapable of being separated from. We have computers that are capable of being physically carried to different places and connecting to the internet from almost anywhere (that has free Wi-Fi or is kind enough to give you their passcode, or, if you’re like David, you’re smart enough to “get through the backdoor”) at any time. One can only dream of future technology, such as perhaps holographic projections, which in all honesty, doesn’t sound too absurd or impossible. Regardless of what advancements are made and what technology develops, I believe that it’s important to remember and take with us our humanity and ability to think; we must remember above all else, we are humans, not machines.