Photography Instructor, Connelly La Mar’s documentary The Dawn of the Killer Robots—which he and his team at Motherboard pitched, shot and produced for VICE—was awarded both a Webby Award and a People’s Voice in the best online tech film category. Established in 1996 during the Web’s infancy, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. The Webby People’s Voice Awards garners millions of votes from all over the world.
“It is certainly humbling to receive recognition always on behalf of our team and Motherboard,” said La Mar. “I think winning the People’s Voice is special because it is by popular vote, but both awards make us remember that people do appreciate the hard work that goes into our process. So, looking at the springy curious object on a shelf somewhere down the road will always be of source of inspiration, and a reason to remember to dust.”
The documentary started with a simple question about the future of weaponizing technology like robots, and why Google is gobbling up robotics companies, which are contracted to the military and involved in DARPA robotics competitions.
“It got interesting as we met people who were on the extreme, and feared the end of humanity invoking the notion of a modern ‘John Connor’,” said La Mar. “So, an initial question about AI, Google and the military industrial-complex grew into a study of existential risk and the singularity, as we met more people at the heart of and on the periphery of the subject.”
If you haven’t already started watching the documentary, we recommend you hit play on the video above…now. Let us know what you think in the comments below!