How to Build a Human

Gemma Chan, the star of critically acclaimed drama series Humans - which returns to Channel 4 tomorrow - explores the frontiers of research into Artificial Intelligence, and builds an AI version of herself, in this exploration of cutting-edge technology. Is the future depicted in Humans - in which Gemma plays a 'Synth' - just around the corner, or already here?, Gemma Chan, the star of critically acclaimed drama series Humans - which returns to Channel 4 tomorrow - explores the frontiers of research into Artificial Intelligence, and builds an AI version of herself, in this exploration of cutting-edge technology. Is the future depicted in Humans - in which Gemma plays a 'Synth' - just around the corner, or already here? Almost every facet of modern life is already filled with intelligent programmes, called AIs, that excel at individual tasks. None of them yet shares a human's incredible range of abilities, but some of the greatest minds of our generation are tackling this challenge. Gemma meets robotics and AI experts from around the world, including Demis Hassabis, the founder of DeepMind, who is leading Google's project to build software more powerful than the human brain, and founding Director of the Future of Humanity Institute, Nick Bostrom, who examines possible existential threats that super-intelligent computers pose to humanity. The documentary culminates in a ground-breaking experiment where a robotic version of Gemma Chan is built to take part in a real-life Turing test; can Robot Gemma convince anyone that she's a real human: the real Gemma Chan?.