Blurring Human and Machine Boundary: The Post-Humanist Metaphor of Cyborg-Body in Artificial Intelligence and Minority Report

摘要

Cyborg, also known as e-bio human, is a body type with mechanical/digital transformation as its representation, which was born out of the cyberpunk subculture. This paper aims to make a detailed comparative study of two opposite types of the cyber body in films Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg 2001) and Minority Report (Steven Spielberg 2002), so as to reveal how cyborg body blurs the boundary between body and machinery, and impacts people's cognition of the body from the philosophical issues on the dualism of body and mind. In terms of methodology, the image analysis and critical discourse analysis are used to explore the problematic metaphor symbolized by cyborg body. Besides, the body study approach in cultural study is utilized to focus on the significance of cyborg cultural philosophy. In conclusion, it is argued that the cyborg body transcends the boundary between the human body and the mechanical body, as well as the dualistic opposition of the body and mind, thus bringing the cognition of the human body into a post-human era, that is, an era that needs to renegotiate the definition and boundary of humans and technology.