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Director's Statement:
At the time I started writing this story, there was a Japanese commercial I saw about a product called Gatebox by Vinclu – which is basically a holographic version of Amazon’s Alexa. The commercial starts with a lonely, young man who is greeted good morning by a hologram anime character. As he prepares to go to work she keeps him company. At work she continues to encourages him with text messages throughout and until the end of the day, when he is excited to return home to Gatebox. From the street, the man looks up at his apartment and the lights are on, as if she is waiting for him. He tells her that he feels good that she is always there for him. With so much talk about artificial intelligence, especially around ChatGPT and AI generated art, I continue to think about our relationship with AI, positive and negative. We have heard stories and seen movies about people being in relationships with AI. But what happens after that? What would happen
with basic human rights, marriage laws, or something like property ownership? Most stories show AI wiping out the human race but what if they just wanted to coexist? I think we would still have to deal with our own prejudices and intolerance.
Gerard Dy - Writer/Director
Gerard studied electrical engineering in college, which led to sparking interest in the technical aspects of filmmaking, and an exciting way to bridge science and art. As a first generation Filipino-American, he strives to explore themes of acceptance of cultural identity and self-love. In 2022, Gerard received a certificate in Directing through UCLA extension, creating his thesis film ‘No Updates Till Tomorrow’, which is currently being exhibited in several film festivals. Gerard’s next work will explore the conflicts of his hyphenated cultural identity and continue his journey in filmmaking mastery.
Director's Statement:
At the time I started writing this story, there was a Japanese commercial I saw about a product called Gatebox by Vinclu – which is basically a holographic version of Amazon’s Alexa. The commercial starts with a lonely, young man who is greeted good morning by a hologram anime character. As he prepares to go to work she keeps him company. At work she continues to encourages him with text messages throughout and until the end of the day, when he is excited to return home to Gatebox. From the street, the man looks up at his apartment and the lights are on, as if she is waiting for him. He tells her that he feels good that she is always there for him. With so much talk about artificial intelligence, especially around ChatGPT and AI generated art, I continue to think about our relationship with AI, positive and negative. We have heard stories and seen movies about people being in relationships with AI. But what happens after that? What would happen
with basic human rights, marriage laws, or something like property ownership? Most stories show AI wiping out the human race but what if they just wanted to coexist? I think we would still have to deal with our own prejudices and intolerance.
Gerard Dy - Writer/Director
Gerard studied electrical engineering in college, which led to sparking interest in the technical aspects of filmmaking, and an exciting way to bridge science and art. As a first generation Filipino-American, he strives to explore themes of acceptance of cultural identity and self-love. In 2022, Gerard received a certificate in Directing through UCLA extension, creating his thesis film ‘No Updates Till Tomorrow’, which is currently being exhibited in several film festivals. Gerard’s next work will explore the conflicts of his hyphenated cultural identity and continue his journey in filmmaking mastery.
