Ghost in the Shell

In the 1990s, Ray Kurzweil wrote about his "Singularity" theory - the future when man and computer are wholly merged. His predictions of AI are perhaps only now coming to fruit. This 1995 movie is the original Ghost In The Shell, which I finally watched. Mamoru Oshii's masterpiece, based on a manga by Shirow Masamune, is not only consistent with Singularity theory, but also remarkably prescient. This is the first film to broach the tough question of "what does it mean to be conscious?" in the context of AI (Artificial Intelligence).

It's a society where humanity has been largely subsumed into a digital world; where cyborgs are a norm and where people are now, essentially, dependant on their own technology for just about all aspects of their survival. In this virtual environment, the "Puppet Master" is the kingpin of the criminal world. It knows that by accessing the minds of those connected to the internet, it can obtain lots of juicy information to facilitate a spree of lucrative and threatening crime. Our very thoughts and dreams are now susceptible - and so the government creates "Section 9". Their job is to reverse-engineer some of these hacks and to try and trace the mastermind before it becomes unstoppable. What now ensues is not the finest example of animation y...