The Most Profound Moment in Gaming: MGS2 AI Conversation Analysis Part 1 of 2

This is my brief analysis of what most people would agree is the most profound moment in gaming: the final conversation that Raiden has with the Patriot AI at the end of Metal Gear Solid 2. It really speaks volumes to a number of topics in Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Ethics, and Science. But perhaps most importantly is that it presents one of the best arguments for control of the human race by AI, something most science fiction stories never even attempt to do.

If you'd like to just view the AI Conversation itself you can find it here:

If you're interested in buying Metal Gear games I recommend this Amazon link:

Re-Uploaded version with slightly better voice track and minor editing changes. All game footage is used for commentary purposes.

[otispaul]

Honored to speak Kojima’s frighteningly, prophetic words.

[chocoboy]

The Patriots were right.

12 years after the game, and it's truer than ever.

[PjCFenix]

This game anticipated the future. It's years before facebook, and everything JD/GW says is coming to reality in recent years. Fake news, useless informations, and all else. Playing through this game again in 2017 was a terrifyng experience. Not a simple game, a philosophy masterpiece.

[ioannisgiannis]

It's funny how nobody gives Tomokazu Fukushima any credit and everyone just keeps praising Kojima

[logiarhythm]

Too bad I absolutely didnt understand what they were talking about when I was 13...

[BloomfieldIND]

Never forget that an A.I. (YouTube's algorithms) suggested that you watch this video.

[ctopusCompetely]

I know it's not as important as the speech itself, but I adore the background ambiance played during this codec. It's wonderfully chilling. If it was the speech alone it'd be scary enough, but having a legitimately discomforting "theme" in the background just makes the proximity of the horrific issues seem even closer, even more omnipresent.

[Rawkwilder]

Since I played this game I noticed something was up with the volume visualizer... It looked always like a gun pointing at Raiden....

[DMND]

An algorithm automatically flags what is deemed inappropriate on YouTube. This happens without human interaction, it "watches" content and informs uploaders they have violated guidelines.
Why?
Because there is simply too much content to be manually reviewed, after being flagged it can be very hard to get to talk to a real human from YouTube to solve your issue.

The program has become too large for it's owners to manage.

Same with tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram, etc.

[FronkZappa]

I don't get how people are subscribing the themes of this to certain political parties or groups or anything like that - I think what made MGS2 so effective thematically and what makes segments like this so chilling are that they seem less tied to any certain political climate and more to how technology has evolved and how our subjective interpretations of the world beyond us are becoming more and more tailored by outside forces. in a way we're having our food digested for us for convinience, missing out out on the details and the actual nutrition of the content.

I don't see this as a left, right, etc. thing - I don't even think the game even really proposes a right answer here. The Patriots by default are antagonists here because of their extreme implementations of their ideology. Isn't that what makes everyone in the Metal Gear series an antagonist? The chilling effect of this is partially due to some of the realities of what the AI is approaching in this codec call, specifically how much more their reality is relatable in 2017 than it was in 2001. Solidus was the antithesis of what the Patriots stand for, but a villain in his own right.

I think it's almost silly to put a left-right orientation onto this because it only reaffirms what the Patriots are basically going on about - digesting information and coding it into your own worldview, cutting a square cloth and sewing it neatly into a patchwork set of ideals that may be more or less tailored than the average person, but nevertheless constructed due to outside influence nonetheless. I love this codec call because it feels universally challenging and it leaves you with questions. It's disquieting in how applicable it remains and because it brings to the forefront the constant, droning cognitive dissonance we maintain consuming content in the digital age, more inclined to toss out what may be good information and consume crap because it's more comfortable or because it reaffirms our beliefs.

We are all guilty and all we have as reassurance is the partially-constructed voice in our head that tells us we are right, we are logical, we are reasonable, and we do a good job sorting things ourselves.

[AZsportshut]

China is creating super solider. Yet where here talking about the Kardashians and Oprah’s interview about Meghan Merkel

[uhobme]

As a person whose (Sadly) never played a Metal Gear game before...


I...



need to sit down

[johnathandoughboy]

i think this game is the reason i never got into reddit, twitter, and instagram; why i felt so much sorrow on facebook i happily deleted it, why i’ve been alienated from society. i’m free from the prison of group thought but have been cast into a pit of loneliness and in a sense became my own echo chamber. In the search for self i sadly find the deep i dig, the further i lose my individuality and come closer to the real truth, “i am the biproduct of the ideas of better men. my philosophy does not come from within but through the work of others. I am my own worst enemy. i should hate this game. it’s brought endless anxiety and loss of identity, but somehow, i feel i’ve lifted a chain so loosely placed around my neck. i know i have the potential to have my own thoughts. i know that i have power, and by staying away from herd consciousness, i may be able to bring something of value to society

[lMobiuscidl]

Who is here in 2020.
Never has been so clear, that for any argument you have it's counter argument, or "debunked" video. No topic is safe, even the clearest ones you may think about!

[realkingofantarctica]

And the truly scary thing is, we still don't understand the full extent of this concept. You couldn't in 2001, you couldn't in 2010, you couldn't in 2019, and you can't in 2021. Let's hope that we never need to know.

[CounterLife]

It's so sick because it is so fucking true.

[ArtsyFoxo]

This game is so post-modern. It's so good.

[EdwardGutierrez]

its 2019 and I watch this every now and then to keep myself "woke" this game scared the shit out of me when I first played it when I was a child.


-I do agree with the A.I. though, WE want this shit that is being fed to us and we arent doing much to change it.

[EdwardGutierrez]

I remember watching this when i was 14 yrs old and was I fucking scared lol

[JustMRRPR]

God help us all its becoming a reality