Prof. Patrick McCray of the UCSB History Department will be providing commentary and leading a Q & A session.

At the height of the Cold War, the United States develops an enormous computer system in a top secret underground facility.  The machine's single purpose is to keep America (and the planet) safe from nuclear war.  The country's entire arsenal is placed at its disposal.  As soon as the machine, known as Colossus, is brought online, it learns that Russia might also be developing a large computer installation.  Colossus demands a network link to establish contact with this other artificial intelligence, and gets it by threatening the humans with their own arsenal.

Once connected, the two machines use the universal language of mathematics to establish a means of communicating with one another.  They quickly surpass human understanding and arrive at a conclusion: in order for the world to be a safe and peaceful place, the humans cannot control it.  The machines then systematically revoke control of everything from the humans, placing the entire planet under a new form of military dictatorship.