TODAY – A hotel staffed mainly by robots will operate in Nagasaki, Japan, this summer. This robots are not only going to vacuum your room and collect your laundry. They’re going to search you out, make reservations for your meal, imitate human actions, and talk four languages. TOMORROW – Your errands on Saturday afternoon could contribute to the purchase of a fully functioning domestic robotic assistant that will get your children ready for school or take care of an ailing parent.
The query “Humans” is set out to examine whether it is a positive or poor choice. It is not just what this technology is capable of; it is about the impact on the human society that this sophisticated technology would have. Will this modern method of navigating life be harmful to us as a human race or helpful to us? And who are we going to become when this technology comes along?
The flawed but caring Hawkins family is at the core of the four parallel plots discussed throughout’ Humans’. Joe Hawkins (Tom Goodman-Hill) takes the call to invest in every busy family’s new must-have device – a Synth. His relationship with his wife Laura (Katherine Parkinson) is growing extremely tense and he hopes that the addition to the household of a robotic servant would give them the time they need so badly and allow them to re-connect as a couple and as a family. Anita (Gemma Chan), the latest Synth of the Hawkins, is an instant success, and their messy house is instantly turned into an oasis of safe, tidy, well-fed satisfaction. Laura gives in to the family demand with reluctance, but soon senses that there is something odd about Anita. Something is not correct there.
However, some have discarded all cynicism for a long time and are accepting their Synths as part of the tribe. With his out-of-date Synth, Odi (Will Tudor), Widower George Millican (William Hurt) has developed a strong friendship with whom he treats more like a son than a piece of machinery. The National Health Service forcibly upgrades him with a modern strict elder-care model called Vera (Rebecca Front) as Odi starts to malfunction, and George must hide the bond he has with Odi or risk forfeiting him to the authorities.
Meanwhile, Max (Ivanno Jeremiah), a young man called Leo (Colin Morgan) and his Synth, are actively looking for someone from Leo’s history. Who is it, though, and why? And why does it appear like Max is so distinct from other synths? A enigmatic figure called Hobb (Danny Webb) is on their heels, who is eager to discover a mystery before it can kill civilization as we know it.
Finally, with the Unique Technologies Task Force, D.S. Peter Drummond (Neil Maskell) works to settle Synth-related conflicts to move away from his annoyance over the flawless Synthetic physical therapist of his wife. As Synths seldom, if ever, fail, Pete spends much of his days moving papers and fixing minor accidents, before one day he solves a case that defies all probability.
Niska (Berrington) is still at large and in control of the Consciousness Code for several months following the events of series one. Her synth relatives, Mia (Chan), Leo (Morgan) and Max (Jeremiah), who are unaware of her position, are each trying to find their place in the world while trying to repair their marriage with Joe (Goodman-Hill) and Laura (Parkinson).
The ripple effects of one easy but seismic decision, when unconfirmed stories of synths acting inexplicably emerge, see the history return suddenly and surprisingly to the door of the Hawkins building. Joe, Laura and the whole family are confronted with a tough decision that will place an immense focus on the family.
Milo Khoury (Marshall Allman), a young billionaire from Silicon Valley, the founder and CEO of a leading technology firm, is pioneering modern science in the United States. But he wants support and seeks to hire Dr Athena Morrow (Carrie-Anne Moss), the leading Artificial Intelligence specialist in the world. Morrow is single-minded in her drive to build a different type of computer consciousness, skeptical of his intentions and centered on her own job.
A exciting multi-stranded plot emerges when an emerging type of intelligent existence — the synths — and an existing one — mankind — battle for their positions in the universe, which seeks to ask: who has the right to decide what it means to be alive?
