Plug & Pray

Is man a machine made of flesh? PLUG & PRAY opens the door to the secret laboratories of artificial intelligence, diving into a world in which computer technology, robotics, biology, neuroscience and developmental psychology merge. Of all people, a pioneer of computer technology and the developer of the first chatbot "ELIZA," Joseph Weizenbaum, becomes the harshest critic of technological megalomania. Born in Berlin, Weizenbaum fled with his family to the U.S. in 1936 to escape the Nazis and made a career as Professor of Computer Science at the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Shortly before his death, he entered into his last duel with the creators of the robots that are to replace humans. PLUG & PRAY opens a highly topical dialogue between the euphoric AI researchers and the precocious computer pioneer on the question of what it actually means to be human.