Instead of how many movies present the idea of a hostile AI system that competes with humanity, Free Guy presents a world where the potential use of AI is a positive. This is shown through Guy and most of the NPCs generally acting like nice people throughout the movie. Even when Guy gains full autonomy, he does not ever think of doing anything other than simply being nice to people and using his powers for good. In addition, when all of the NPCs are shown as being aware that they are in a video game, they do not make an attempt to rebel against the humans. At the end of the movie, it is shown that they remain in a peaceful coexistence with humans in the game Free Life, a simple observational game with no violence. This conclusion is important because it shows that although there are many things that could go wrong with the advancement of AI, there is still hope for a positive future.
A criticism Free Guy brings to society is of how the legal system is applied to the digital world. One concern shown is the lack of information privacy online and that there are no laws protecting what data can be collected from users [1]. For example, the NPCs are simply data existing in the servers. Everything they do can be analyzed and observed, including their very means of thinking. This data is available to any administrator of the servers, including many of the developers and the owner of the company, Antwan. This data can be used to track these NPCs, and the administrators can even see the locations of players and what they do in the world too. This presents a problem because the NPCs have no knowledge of this tracking and the players likely have no knowledge either, as a survey showed only 22% of adults say they read the Terms and Conditions fully [2]. Another criticism of the legal system is the lack of protection available for digital property rights. Millie and Keys developed a game called Life Itself, which Antwan used as the basis for Free City illegally, yet they have no legal recourse because of Antwan hiding the stolen code. This can be compared to the real world, where it is often hard to determine who owns a specific IP or whether there have been any illegal actions taken online.
A second criticism Free Guy makes of society is the greed of corporations. One example of this is in the tendencies of large game companies to prioritize profit over quality. Antwan wishes to destroy Free City as it is taking away pre-sales from Free City 2, despite the players enjoying it much more. In addition, he rushes the launch of Dude, and it releases as an unfinished AI. There are many real world examples of games launching early in an unfinished state to make money, such as 2020's Cyberpunk 2077, which released in such a poor state that it had to be removed from stores. The game had an estimated budget of more than £300 million and the company had spent millions on marketing [3], so it is likely that the company released the game in such a poor state in order to cover financial losses instead of being confident in the quality of the product. Another example of corporate greed in the movie is that profit was prioritized over the sentient NPCs. Despite the fact that destroying the servers would mean "killing" this lifeform, Antwan goes ahead and tries to do it anyways because the NPCs are ruining his profits. In addition, even in the end of the movie, the NPCs have no rights under the law. There is nothing to stop another company from making a game with sentient NPCs and exploiting them for money. This reflects the real world corporations which do not care about ethics if it makes them money, shown by the fact that there are more than 115 animals annually used for animal testing, which harms the animals in exchange for a often unreliable indicator of efficacy [4].
References:
1. “Protecting Personal Privacy.” U.S. GAO, U. S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov/protecting-personal-privacy. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.
2. Auxier, Brooke, et al. “Americans and Privacy: Concerned, Confused and Feeling Lack of Control over Their Personal Information.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 15 Nov. 2019, www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/11/15/americans-and-privacy-concerned-confused-and-feeling-lack-of-control-over-their-personal-information/.
3. MacDonald, Keza. “Cyberpunk 2077: How 2020’s Biggest Video Game Launch Turned into a Shambles.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 18 Dec. 2020, www.theguardian.com/games/2020/dec/18/cyberpunk-2077-how-2020s-biggest-video-game-launch-turned-into-a-shambles.
4. Akhtar, Aysha. “The flaws and human harms of animal experimentation.” Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, vol. 24, no. 4, Oct. 2015, pp. 407–419, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0963180115000079.
Bullet point summary:
Positive outlook on the possibility of AI
Guy being practically human and quite nice
No AI takeover
Eventual Peaceful coexistence
Concerns over information privacy and lack of legislation
AI essentially being data that can be observed down to their very thoughts
The data available to admins of systems, tracking users and their actions without their knowledge
Concerns over digital property rights and lack of enforcement
The secondary character Millie's game being used without compensation
Sadly realistic view of the tendencies of triple A game companies
Loss of quality over profit
Increased cash grab tendencies
Profit prioritized over the protection of a newly sentient and sapient life form by corporation
Owner of software company attempting to destroy all servers containing the newly sentient AI in order to protect his interests and not be sued
No shown acknowledgment of the AI as people in LAW besides being given a private server to live and interact with humans