Mad Scientist: Tony Stark

Artificial Intelligence

Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man, is the mad scientist in the movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron. Stark owns Stark Industries, which was passed down to him by his father after his death. Originally the company was focused on making weapons and other forms of technology, but it also acts as a base for the Avengers to help fight against HYDRA. Within his industry, he also created his own suit in which he helps to save the world as a member of the Avengers. Stark is no stranger to the scientific world of creating new technology and as the story unfolds, Stark develops a program in which he hopes will help to keep the world a safe and high functioning place. Keeping things especially exciting, the program creates many problems for the Avengers to solve. Moral conflicts that many mad scientists face come to life throughout the story, including the role of playing God. I believe Stark was no exception to this role and things went wildly wrong. 

Tony Stark is pictured above and this picture shows
that he does not look like your typical mad scientist,
but rather a pretty normal guy

Throughout history, a facade has been developed to describe a mad scientist. Normally these men are described as deranged old men, with crazy white hair ,and a lab coat. They tend to be insane, with traits such as crazy bulged eyes and an evil laugh. Although this is not true for all mad scientist, one thing they normally all have in common is their actions. More specifically with the questions they should be asking themselves. The question that a mad scientist normally asks themselves is, "Can I do this?" when really they should be asking, "Should I do this?" Within Tony Stark's actions, I believe he would qualify as a mad scientist but I do not think he looks the part of one. He is a very put together man with a decent amount of cash to sit upon. He wears expensive suits and if you were having a conversation with him he could pass as a normal everyday guy. Yes, he is crazy with his ideas but when it comes to the ideal look of a mad scientist, he does not exactly fit the part.

This shows how the program Ultron is taking over the hard
drive of J.A.R.V.I.S foreshadowing that things are about
to go wrong

All mad scientists have a purpose behind their actions, whether that purpose is ethical or not. Tony Stark bands together with his team of Avengers and attacks a HYDRA base located in Sovakia.  The purpose of this was to steal the scepter that was previously belonging to Thor's brother, Loki. They discovered that the scepter had a component of artificial intelligence, which was exactly what Stark needed in order to take his Ultron "global defense" program to the next level. Stark did not want to tell his team about the discovery with fears of them not understanding that what he was doing was for the human good. He is even quoted talking to Dr. Bruce Banner (the Hulk) saying, "the man was not meant to medal medley" which makes me believe he knew in his head that his plans could very well be a bad idea. Stark worked on the experiment for hours only to be slightly disappointed in the outcome of nothing happening. As he leaves his laboratory, (which is similar to what happened in Frankenstein) his creation of Ultron comes alive, over taking his own computerized personal assistant, J.A.R.V.I.S.

Ultron destroying Sovakia

Destruction of Sovakia

Mad scientist's creations always end up taking a toll on the population whether that is a small amount or a catastrophic amount like millions. Not only does Ultron want to end the Avengers, but he also wants to end the lives of many others on Earth until everything and everyone is a metal and program like. He believes all humans are doomed and with the artificial complex being generated, he believes that everyone will eventually need to live like him in order to survive. This was not the intention of Stark. In fact, Stark believed that the artificial intelligence complex that he was bringing to life would help keep the world safer. This backfired greatly and Ultron ended up ruining cities, killing those who inhabited them, and turning some of the Avengers against each other. Before he could do so much harm that lead to the domination of Earth, the Avengers needed to step in and end Ultron before he ended all of them and try to create a new and scary world with the same actions that he was showing.

As we continuing exploring into the movie, the idea of moral and ethical conflict definitely arises. No one should play the role of God whether you believe in him or not. Natural biology will always take its course and the creation of a human being happens between a male and a female. By creating this artificial intelligence, it is not only an unnatural way of creating life but it also leads to possibilities of problems because lets face it, technology has a mind of its own. Tony Stark not only created a monster, but he created a monster that destroyed a city and killed many civilians. The one question Stark should have asked himself when he thought of creating Ultron was not, "Can I?" but "Should I?" and then maybe he would have been able to understand the repercussions of what could go wrong.