Becoming Our Beliefs: A Contemplation On Humans In The Loop

Nehma (Sonal Madhushankar) is in the realm between memory and dream. She sees a younger version of herself, gently stroking the rock surfaces in a cave. Early paintings by her ancestors are etched on these rocks. 바카라�Is there life in these rocks, too?바카라� her friend, Roshan (Anurag Lugun) inquires. 바카라�Yes,바카라� says Nehma. As they run through a freshly harvested field, he asks, 바카라�Do the clouds have life in them, too?바카라� 바카라�Yes,바카라� comes the reply. 바카라�What about this harvested paddy?바카라� he persists. 바카라�Yes, that too,바카라� Nehma patiently answers. 바카라�My father says that everything around us has life in it,바카라� she explains. 바카라�If you put your ear to a rock and listen carefully, you can hear its heartbeat, too.바카라�

Nehma바카라�s innocent, yet profound insights in this scene encapsulate the essence of Humans in the Loop. Directed by Aranya Sahay, the film premiered at the recently concluded MAMI film festival at Mumbai in October. It is another spectacular addition to the steadily growing cluster of indie films that are exploring the hitherto undiscovered landscape of Jharkhand. Humans in the Loop is a visual delight that is both intelligent and poignant in its conception. Narrated in three chapters, it is a coming-of-age story: of an adult, a child and artificial intelligence.

Sahay touches upon the complex social fabric of Adivasi traditions in Jharkhand by showing rituals like Dhuku, but does not pass any moral judgement that usually arrives with an oriental perspective. Instead, he maintains his focus on weaving together a narrative from a remarkably interesting comparison between a child and AI. The chapters of this story are thus, also divided along the same thread of imagination. Enriched by an evocative auralscape, the film lulls you deep into the forests where the Adivasi livelihoods are embedded. Only then is the web of hierarchies uncovered within a community that is otherwise perceived as a monolith by the urban class.

It바카라�s intriguing enough to see a 바카라�millennial parental apology바카라� film surface from the Indian indie wave, let alone it being pivoted on the tale of an Oraon woman and her young daughter. But Humans in the Loop brilliantly goes a step beyond the conventions of this emergent trope바카라�through the interrogation of human tendencies in artificial intelligence, it offers redemption to both people and technology.

The root of this redemption lies in a simple idea바카라�what we believe, we become. Thus, the scene described above, about young Nehma바카라�s beliefs, becomes a motif that connects the story across the chapters. When Nehma is questioned by Dhaanu about why she is forcing the knowledge of Adivasi traditions on her바카라�so many years after abandoning her바카라�Nehma바카라�s faith in herself is shaken. When her AI Centre head scolds her for mis-labelling an insect and applying her own insight onto a preordained task, Nehma바카라�s convictions are further unsettled. The motif of young Nehma recurs at this juncture, to say that the heartbeat in the rocks seems lost.

Humans in the Loop is not a dystopic tale of doom. While emphasizing the importance of human-nature connection in the Anthropocene, it doesn바카라�t induce despair. Instead, it tries to highlight how it is never too late to rebuild hope. In letting go, there are new beginnings to be found. As she loosens the reins on her daughter Dhaanu바카라�s autonomy, Nehma allows her into her own world of vulnerabilities. When she lets go of her own biases, she finds a way to rework the prejudices of AI, too. In a heartrending acknowledgement of Dhaanu바카라�s anger, Nehma says, 바카라�I바카라�ve endured so much, that I failed to see that I could be wrong, too.바카라�

The most beautiful aspect of Humans in the Loop is that it is at once both personal and universal바카라�the restoration of a mother-child relationship becomes a metaphor for the need to reconnect with nature for survival. In the process, Sahay is careful that the Adivasi way of life is visibilized, but not romanticised. His role as the filmmaker remains much like the saahi, the porcupine that Nehma befriended as a child. He quietly guides the story through the socio-cultural landscape, just like the saahi drops its quills to guide Dhaanu when she is lost in the forest­바카라�hoping that with the no-frills performances of its protagonists, the story will take a life of its own. And so, it does.