Ghost in the Machine
Is AI racist? This documentary says yes, seeing as it’s made from so many books written when racism was commonplace, not to mention the ingestion of posts and rants from the wild west of social media today.
Subject Emily M Bender scheduled to attend.
Tickets
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Sunday, May 10, 2026
- Limited Availability
- On Standby
- Matinee
Monday, May 11, 2026
- Limited Availability
- On Standby
- Matinee
In 2016, Microsoft introduced Tay, a Twitter-bot designed to mimic the language patterns of a 19-year-old American girl, and to learn from interactions with human users of Twitter. You can guess what happened next. Within 16 hours it was taken offline because it was posting inflammatory and offensive tweets. For Valerie Veatch, the filmmaker behind Ghost in the Machine, that was a typical result of unchecked artificial intelligence. The movie looks back at how scientists defined intelligence with racist principles and a preference for European and American history, as well as how some of the most influential people behind the creation of Silicon Valley had a fondness for eugenics. Given the fact that modern-day AI is built on so many books that were written when racist principles were commonplace, along with the unchecked rantings of social media, it's no surprise that AI can veer toward the misogynistic, racist, and otherwise offensive. This doc will shake you out of the belief that AI is objective or, in an optimistic twist, that it is inevitable.
—Andy Spletzer
- Director: Valerie Veatch
- Principal Cast: Adam Becker, Dan McQuillan, David Gerard, Emily M. Bender, Paris Marx
- Country: USA
- Year: 2026
- Running Time: 110 min.
- Producer: Valerie Veatch
- Editors: Valerie Veatch
- Music: Morgan Doctor
- Website: Official Film Website
- Filmography: Love Child (2014), Me @ the Zoo (2012)
- Language: English
- International Sales: CAA Film Sales