Mission: Impossible isn’t supposed to be the most realistic Hollywood franchise, but one movie earned a particularly harsh review from an expert. As the franchise has progressed over the years, the Mission: Impossible movies have taken on more elements of science fiction, which adds to the way that the huge stunts already push the limits of believability.
Like other spy movies, the Mission: Impossible franchise often uses advanced technology as a plot device, which helps to explain away some of the logical leaps of the narrative. It also adds a touch of glamor and mystery to the series, as Ethan and his IMF team are faced with complex tasks that require both physical prowess and technological know-how.
Benji Smashing His Laptop In Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Made An AI Expert Laugh
In a video with Insider, AI expert Sasha Luccioni was asked to break down the realism of several Hollywood movies that feature AI in some way. When it came to analyzing Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, she admitted that she laughed out loud at the portrayal of the Entity, the super-intelligent, all-powerful algorithm that serves as the movie’s main villain.
One scene in particular proved to be too far-fetched for Luccioni. When Benji first recognizes that the Entity is interfering with his communications with Ethan in Venice, he and Luther decide that the only course of action is to smash their equipment so that the Entity has no way of contacting Ethan.
“I definitely laughed really hard when they started smashing all their equipment because the vast majority of AI models nowadays don’t actually run on your device, your laptop, your phones.” – Sasha Luccioni on Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
Luccioni was more generous when assessing other elements of Dead Reckoning’s portrayal of artificial intelligence, commenting on the voice-cloning technology as a realistic positive. However, these positives were overshadowed by the key issue, which is that Dead Reckoning assigns the Entity a certain amount of agency.
Luccioni explains that artificial intelligence is simply a tool, but that it needs a human to command it in order to do things like hack communication systems, clone Benji’s voice and shut down satellites. Although Dead Reckoning’s portrayal of AI isn’t realistic, it does resonate with contemporary anxieties about the technology.
Mission: Impossible Isn’t Known For Realism, But Benji Is Meant To Be A Tech Expert
Image via Paramount Pictures
It’s easy to forgive Mission: Impossible for its lack of realism with AI, because it’s meant to be a fanciful action thriller, not an educational document. It also makes sense if Dead Reckoning is seen as a worst-case scenario about the future of AI. The rapid development of this technology represents a new frontier, which creates a lot of questions.
The problem with Dead Reckoning’s lack of realism is that it undermines Benji’s role as Ethan’s tech expert. Seeing him smash his laptop to slow down the Entity is like seeing him throw his phone away because he received a harmful text message. It doesn’t affect the problem in any way, and it makes him seem foolish.
Benji was a late addition to the Mission: Impossible franchise, but he soon became a vital member of Ethan’s team, especially as technology and spy-fi gadgets took center stage. While Mission: Impossible’s Entity doesn’t quite operate like real-life AI, the franchise still could have avoided such obvious pitfalls, at least for Benji’s sake.
Source: Insider
