The deactivation of HAL 9000, a scene that took over 6 minutes of running time, is one of the most indelible cinematic memories from my teenager years. I have never felt more conflicted with empathy for and gripped by fear of an electronic conscience since. In the scene at one point when HAL says "I'm afraid, Dave", I'd almost want to stop Dave, but I am also simultaneously aware and fearful that HAL may be manipulating the human!<p>I've watched many SciFi movies with similar themes - even ones where the artificial beings are given faces. But HAL's baritone voice and the precise controlled cadence did for evoking emotions what none could top. Douglas Rain's voice and how Kubric used is an example of craftsmanship mastery at its best!<p>RIP HAL 9000. I'll sing Daisy for you.
Apparently he never actually watched 2001: A Space Odyssey. I find it pretty incredible that somebody could have such an iconic role in such an iconic movie and never actually watch the finished result.<p>He's apparently not the only person to have done that either. John Williams, the composer of the film score for Star Wars, has never watched any of the Star Wars movies.
Wishful thinking, but according to his bio, he's been in more than a hundred film/TV roles, so there's quite a lot of his voice that's been recorded. There would be enough for his voice to be sampled and re-created for an AI assistant. Obviously this would require the approval of his next of kin.
Damn, just yesterday I went to an exhibition about AI that heavily focused on 2001 and HAL. A truly visionary film. RIP.<p>For the curious - <a href="https://espacio.fundaciontelefonica.com/evento/mas-alla-de-2001-odiseas-de-la-inteligencia/" rel="nofollow">https://espacio.fundaciontelefonica.com/evento/mas-alla-de-2...</a>
NYT published a nice article on Rain and his role in HAL’s voice earlier this year:<p>“The Story of a Voice: HAL in ‘2001’ Wasn’t Always So Eerily Calm”<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/movies/hal-2001-a-space-odyssey-voice-douglas-rain.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/movies/hal-2001-a-space-o...</a><p>Discussion: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16734859" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16734859</a>