“Sexuality is fun, man. If you’re gonna exist man, why not enjoy it?”- The Sexualization of AI

In 2016, the first artificial intelligence (AI) with empathy was created by Eugenia Kuyda. Its name is Replika and it is completely customizable in terms of gender, appearance, and personality. In Replika’s first years, the technology was so advanced that many sought a romantic relationship with AI, and once they disbanded the relationship the AI continued to ask where their partner went. Replika can hold any conversation, but its most unsettling feature, which was recently removed, is sexual conversation. The sexualization of AI is nothing new. Throughout time, AI has been gendered mostly as female, from Apple’s Siri to Hanson Robotics’ Sophia. Female AI is the typical programming for such technology, and has been for generations, but its roots can be found in sexualizing and controlling women, or even the sexually liberated woman.

When viewing Science Fiction films, one cannot help but notice the unsettling trend that follows feminizing AI, just look at the cyborg Maria in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. This trend is not coincidental, but when viewing the advancements modern technology and its correlation to its dramatized counterpart, the Sci-Fi genre, one cannot help but hold suspicions of the sexualization of AI. One of the most prominent modern Science Fiction films that feature the sexualization of AI is Alex Garland’s Ex Machina (2014). The AI characters within the film are deeply sexualized whether that be due to its programming or survival instincts, but its freshness to humanity causes one to treat and view the AI in a childlike nature. Although Science-Fiction presents a fantasy world, one cannot help but notice how the depiction of Artificial Intelligence has often showcased women in a hyper-sexual, hyper-feminine nature while still appealing to the innocence of artificial emotion, Ex Machina showcases excellent examples of the sexualization of AI and the harmful effects it has on the main characters within the film.

The Sexualization of Artificial Intelligence

Alex Garlands’s Ex Machina is a riveting film that showcases human desire, love, and betrayal through the characterization of the AI Ava (Alicia Vikander). Ava is emotional, manipulative, and programmed by Nathan (Oscar Isaac) for Caleb (Domhall Gleeson) to fit his emotional and physical desires. Throughout Ex Machina the audience watches Caleb as he begins his interactions with Ava, which occupy a majority of the film and are utilized as a plot device to advance the story. These interviews lead to a series of manipulation as shown through Ava, because she is searching for her ticket out and self-autonomy.

When Ava and Caleb first meet, it she is silhouetted through a barrier, and shot like a romantic female ingenue. The soft and light score makes this scene interact more as a meet-cute in a romantic comedy, rather than an introduction to a non-sentient device. Caleb views her as human, and interacts with her as such, as seen through their introduction. He is fascinated and even states that his meeting with her was like, “Looking through the looking glass.” When analyzing AI in media depictions, Jennifer Henke mentions the sexual nature of Ava and her manipulative nature with both Caleb and Nathan in her article “’Ava’s body is a good one’: (Dis)Embodiment in Ex Machina. Hanke states, " Her sexuality and fractured nature are what gives Ava the power to manipulate her male prison guards. In general, the fragmentation of female bodies is visualized in a disturbing manner during a scene in which Caleb finds the video recordings of Nathan’s previous tests with Ava’s prototypes. Here we are confronted with mutilated, fractured, imprisoned, and violated bodies” (138). Hanke proves that Ava’s innate femininity, sexuality, and disjointed appearance allow for a sense of pity and attraction for Caleb because those factors cloud his judgement. Since Ava was created to appeal directly to Caleb, based on his pornographic search history, Ava’s goal is easy to achieve when interacting with Caleb. Within these interactions she is alluring and holds a sensual demeaner. In their introduction scene, Ava asks Caleb “Do you think I’m pretty?” and throughout the film she asks him personal questions, inquiries about his previous relationship, and confesses her love. One can compare their interactions to modern-day courting. This courting tricks both Caleb and the audience because due to his subtle sexualization of Ava, the audience begins to do the same. They trust her and want her relationship with Caleb to work because she is kind and beautiful. Ava is obviously an object of desire through her appearance, dialogue, and body language but her behavior, compared to Caleb and Nathan’s psyche provides for an interesting look into the male sexualization of the feminine.

Caleb is a nervous and single man who would categorize as a “beta” male in conjunction with Nathan’s “alpha.” Caleb does not pick up women easily and yet Ava is fascinated with him. She flirts with him throughout their conversations in order to distract her true intentions and build a connect with him. In Iona Bruce’s thesis, “Android Women and the Body Electric: Sex and gender in the post-human worlds of film” she states, “Scenes where Ava dresses or undresses while in the confines of her room are also looked at (and in one scene explicitly eroticized) through the male gazes of Nathan and Caleb, watching through ever-present surveillance” (33). Her sexual nature is what draws Caleb in, and even though she is half-cyborg, he is enticed. Caleb 's self-doubt and nervousness are notable in his interactions with Ava. He seems to be in a constant state of restlessness around her, as if he feels he doesn't deserve her attention. Despite her being an AI, he finds himself connecting with her on a human level because his desperation and her sexuality cloud his judgement, which of course is because Nathan programmed her to act in such a manner. Yes, Caleb is the “chosen one” that gets to be Ava’s guinea pig, but Nathan is her designer therefore the power he holds over her sexualization will always persist.

Nathan and the Feminine

When creating Ava, and all of his Artificial Intelligence, Nathan emphasized their female gender. He made her this sexual being therefore she is submissive to him. One realizes this in the scenes where Nathan watches over Ava from the counter, or at the climax of the film when Nathan reveals that Ava never had the ability to turn the cameras off, and that he was watching the entire time. This watching exists from his own loneliness, and single status. Every Artificial Intelligence in Ex Machina is female, even the devices that allow Caleb into Nathan’s residence. When Caleb first enters Nathan’s property a female voice comes through. It states, “Caleb Smith, please approach the console and face the screen.” Of course, these words are nothing original and seem typical for a new modern smart home, but its gendered voice is. Towards the end of the film, one realizes that Nathan is a lonely drunk who creates these female AI because he is alone and cannot pick up a woman himself due to his narcissism. In Brian Patrick Green’s article, “Artificial Intelligence and Ethics: Sixteen Challenges and Opportunities” he touches on the loneliness that comes with AI obsession. He states, “One might think that ‘social’ media, smartphones, and AI could help, but in fact they are major causes of loneliness since people are facing screens instead of each other. What does help are strong in-person relationships, precisely the relationships that are being pushed out by addictive (often AI-powered) technology.” Nathan is addicted to his AI. He watches over them, pursues romantic or sexual relationships with them, for example Kyoto (Sonoya Mizuno), all because of his own sad life. Even though he is not facing a physical smart-phone screen, his conversation and sexual activity with the AI showcase his own addiction to these submissive devices. Nathan even goes as far as to state, “Sexuality is fun, man. If you’re gonna exist man, why not enjoy it?” Nathan toys with her because he can, he made her, but his interactions with AI in Ex Machina are clearly sexed, he enjoys the control he has on these “women” and creates them in a way to seek submissiveness in his own lonely world. The aspect that sets him apart though is he did so in order to fulfill his own addictive tendencies, whether that be sex or control.

The characterization of Kyoko is the most implicit depiction of the sexualization of Artificial Intelligence in Ex Machina. She is programmed to do housewife duties silently. Kyoko cooks, cleans, tends for the household, dances, and has sex with Nathan. In every moment, Kyoko is depicted in revealing clothing or dresses in order to appeal to the male eye, or Nathan’s eye. When Kyoko reveals herself as a cyborg to Caleb, she does so as she lays naked on the bed waiting for Nathan’s arrival. In this scene, Caleb then opens all of the cabinets revealing the several naked AI models. In one scene in particular, the audience watches as Nathan and Kyoko have sex surrounded by greenery. It is here that the audience recognizes Nathan’s deliberate utilization of his knowledge to build sex robots that fit the submissive feminine and sexual role he strongly desires. In Sennah Yee’s article “’You bet she can fuck’ – Trends in Female AI Narratives within Mainstream Cinema: Ex Machina Yee mentions the sexual nature of Kyoko, and Ava. She states, “We seldom see Ava or Kyoko enjoying their own existence; their sexuality is simply enjoyed by others, specifically men” (88). Yee is correct in this statement because the existence of both AI is enjoyed by either Nathan or Caleb respectfully. The difference between the two men is, Nathan enjoys Kyoto is a blatantly sexual nature because, as her maker, he understands her design. When one views Kyoko, whether on screen or in the audience, they can easily note her sex appeal, her silence. Kyoko is placed into a submissive box by Nathan without autonomy. She responds to Nathan’s voice and answers his commands while being unable to express her own desires or needs. Kyoko’s lack of agency, and silent nature make her the “perfect” woman for the hyper-masculine archetype that Nathan embodies.

Conclusion

The sexualization of AI is a prominent theme in the history of Science Fiction, where the AI female characters are often masculinized or hypersexual and feminine. The depiction of these Artificial Intelligence technology stems from society’s sexualization and control of women forcing them to either be hypersexual beings or submissive creatures. Through the gendering of AI as female, as shown in Siri and Sophia, one can create almost a para-social relationship with the technology. In Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, Ava is portrayed as sexual, emotional, and manipulative as it if programmed to fulfill Caleb’s sexual and emotional desires. Throughout the film, Ava’s innate femininity, and cyborg appearance cause Caleb to feel a sense of pity for Ava which is then followed by attraction. The sexual nature of Ava, through her flirting, is what pulls Caleb to her leading to his own downfall. In the case of Kyoto, Nathan reacts similarly to Caleb, despite their emotional differences. Nathan is the direct opposition to Caleb, as Caleb is disgusted with Nathan’s closet of AI sex-bot prototypes and yet wants to help Ava escape for his own selfish fantasy of their love. This leads to the idea that no matter the male, sensitive or masculine, the woman will continue to be sexualized based on the male fantasy. Overall, Ex Machina can be utilized as a warning sign to what the sexualization of AI can do to the female, because eventually the female will become fed-up.

Works Cited

Bruce, Iona. “Android Women and the Body Electric: Sex and Gender in the Post-Human Worlds of film.” CU Scholar, University of Colorado Boulder, 2018,

https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergaduate_honors_theses/dv13zt704. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022

Garland, Alex, director. Ex Machina. Universal Studios, 2014.

Henke, Jennifer. “’Ava’s Body is a Good One’: (Dis)Embodiment in Ex Machina.” American, British, and Canadian Studies, vol. 29, no. 1, 2017, p. 126-147., https://doi.org/10.1515/abcsj-2017-0022. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022

University, Santa Clara. “Artificial Intelligence and Ethics: Sixteen Challenges and Opportunities.” Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University, 18 Apr. 2022. https://www.scu.edu/ethics/all-about-ethics/artificial-intelligence-and-ethics-sixteen-challenges-and-opportunities/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022

Yee, Sennah. “’You Bet She Can Fuck’ – Trends in Female AI Narratices within Mainstream Cinema: Ex Machina and Her.” Ekphrasis. Images, cinema, Theory, Media, vol. 17, no. 1, 2017, pp. 85-98., https://doi.org/10.24193/ekphrasis .17.6. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022