“Tron: Ares” is set to release. The first Tron movie debuted in 1982. At the time, Tron was a standout production in the film industry, depicting the birth of the digital world and the conflict between humans and machines within it. It gained attention for being the first film in history to use large-scale computer graphics, and perfectly captured the scientific curiosity to explore the unfamiliar medium of ‘computers’.

At that time, the digital world was purely imaginative. It was an era when computers were merely vast data processing machines, incapable of implementing interactive virtual reality or complex artificial intelligence (AI) systems as we know them today.

“Tron: Legacy,” released in 2010, depicts a much more advanced digital world against the backdrop of technological progress. Moving beyond the mechanical and simple graphics of its predecessor, it features futuristic and unknown spaces recreated with neon lights and abstract cityscapes, and gained attention for using digital de-aging technology to recreate an actor’s past appearance.

The true innovation of the Tron series isn’t just technological. The AI and autonomous programs in the films bear striking similarities to the artificial intelligence developments we face today. Programs like Clu in “Legacy” are connected to today’s AI. Also, the concepts of metaverse and virtual reality have become remarkably real compared to when the Tron series first appeared in the 1980s. The mysterious and futuristic feel of 1982 has been faithfully recreated.

“Tron: Ares” suggests an increasingly blurred boundary between AI and humans. This will be an important work exploring the evolution of autonomous programs and AI ethics issues. Today, AI use is replacing human roles in various fields including medicine, law, and finance, and ethical discussions continue. The collision between digital identity and the real world presented in the Tron series is a cinematic translation of these social issues.

The Tron series is itself an icon of technology and culture. What started as scientific imagination now intersects with real-world technologies like artificial intelligence, metaverse, and quantum computing. Like a prophetic film, it has established itself as more than mere science fantasy, becoming a preview of future society combining technological imagination and ethical issues. Just as physicists in early 20th century Argentina theorized quantum mechanics, today’s continuous dialogue between art and science is making movie technology into reality.

Now we are experiencing the digital world depicted in the Tron series becoming increasingly closer to our reality. The development of AI and virtual reality is happening faster than ever, and the imagination shown in the films now serves as a guide for technological innovation in the real world.