Marjorie Prime
2018
with

Maria Gini

Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Computer Science at University of Minnesota

Marjorie Prime— Programming empathy in robots

Computer scientist Maria Gini discusses the current science of artificial intelligence and the evolving relationship between humans and technology.

The Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul Minneapolis, MN

Film Synopsis

In the near future, in a time of artificial intelligence, 86-year-old Marjorie has a handsome new companion who looks like her deceased husband and is programmed to feed the story of her life back to her.

Marjorie (Lois Smith) is an elderly woman who lives with her daughter (Geena Davis) and son-in-law (Tim Robbins). Marjorie’s mind has started to drift as she’s gotten older, so to help, she’s begun talking to a holographic reproduction of her husband, Walter (Jon Hamm). The creation — referred to as a “Prime” — is a software-driven blank slate that can take on the characteristics and nuances Marjorie remembers about her husband, even if some of them aren’t exactly true. As other family members talk to Walter Prime, it becomes clear that the family has been haunted by unspoken secrets and tragedies they’ve never really dealt with.