What Is Devs? Creator Alex Garland Explains FX's New Sci-Fi Show

Are you going to check out Devs (or have you already)?

This is what REAL SciFi look like. Great so far!

Devs is a psychedelic trippy trip I never knew I needed wanted n craved for... Great show

Alex Garland is such a dude. Amazing writer, screenwriter and director. Everything he does is amazing! Loving Devs.

I love his technique on writing, he immersers himself in the idea, then writes it only once he's at an understanding with himself that its time to throw subjects into this concept.

Just watch the final episode and omg the guy is a genius. I wish there was someone I could talk to about this show but no one I know watches it :-(

Absolutely blew me away with his cinematography and soundtrack. Mizuno was perfect for the lead in this. Fabulous ....more please, and soon.

AG is one cool dude. Love his work. And Devs is the perfect platform for his dark, sci-fi style. I love how he subtly builds the mystery where you're constantly wondering what the hell is going on and, at the end of every episode, what could possibly happen next. I hope there's multiple seasons of this story.

I highly, HIGHLY recommend reading "The Light of Other Days" by Arthur C. Clarke. So far it's almost like this series is loosely based on that book. One of my favorite Clarke books.

I love hearing Alex Garland speak. He's so soothing

This interviewer is brilliant - speaking to one of the most thoughtful, intelligent, curious writer/directors working today, with thoughtful, intelligent, curious questions. A fascinating conversation with a guy who's proving himself a master at existential Sci-Fi

Alex confirmed to be a Souls bro, praise the sun ☀

The quietness of this show is brilliant!

Excellent interview - Intelligent questions combined with intelligent answers. Kudos to all involved.

Ive seen the first five eps and I must say it reminds me alot of the movie Arrival. Garland is a very underrated creator.

This concept reminds me of the theory that you can recreate what is out of view (behind a building for example) based on the lights, shadows, particles in the air, heat, etc. if the quantum computer has all of the data, it could predict reliably. The problem is, we are so limited in our understanding of physics, the elements, and dimensional influence, that we can’t give the machine sufficient data to accurately extrapolate. If we made the machine smart enough though, it might start to understand things we don’t, add these unknown factors creating its own library of alternative physics, and make determinations. The machine could be right, but using computing and information that we weren’t aware it was using. We would expect one outcome, it would predict a different outcome, which actually was correct, and we would think there was an error in its processing even though it came up with the right result. Once we start investigating and digging into its code, we would realize it is understanding things we don’t and aren’t aware even exist.

I think the inside of the devs building has has some similarities with the engine in Event Horizon.

When Forest is commenting on the 2000 year old projection of Jesus he tells the team "I know you will do better". I took this to mean that Forest wants higher fidelity results. Katie calls it too "fuzzy". I think the problem that Forest isn't taking into account was foreshadowed in the beginning of the series. In the first episode Sergei is doing a demonstration with the C. elegans nematode. He's only able to maintain accuracy for a few seconds before the prediction of the worms behavior falls out of synch. After the experiment fails Forest asks Sergei to explain what happened. Forest is essentially asking him why he was only able to predict the worms future for 30 seconds. Sergei offers two hypothesis. A. Sergei hypothesizes there is too much data and the numbers get too "insane" to manage. Meaning he doesn't have enough processing power to handle the calculations. B. Sergei hypothesizes that the multiverse is interfering with the experiment somehow. His exact words are "it's a quantum type problem. Somewhere in the multiverse there's a world where they stay in synch, but it's not this one." Forest dismisses hypothesis B by saying he's "not a fan of the multiverse". But he also never denies the multiverse exists. He just says he's "not a fan." If the multiverse is causing Sergei's experiment to fail it might be causing DEVS to fail at ther goal. If this is the true they probably wouldn't be "fans" of the multiverse. Sergei's demonstration with the worm is just a small scale version of what the DEVS team is doing. That being, the use of initial conditions and deterministic laws of motion to recreate past events. The DEVS team has essentially solved the problem that Sergey hypothesized in A. Their AI assisted quantum computer should be powerful enough to handle the data required to do macroscopic calculations of quantum systems. So why isn't DEVS able to create a photo realistic visual of an event 2000 years into the past, even tho Forest described the DEVS quantum computer as having so many qubits that "it doesn't even make sense to express it as a number"? Sergei's nematode experiment failed for the same reason DEVS can't get a clear picture of the crucifixion. That being the nature of reality and the multiverse specifically. Alex Garland (the creator of DEVS) talks about David Deutsch's ideas being his main inspiration for the show. Deutsch is best known for his pioneering work in quantum computing and it's inexorable link to the multiverse. Something to keep in mind.

Alex Garland story telling reminds me of Michael Creighton who I also love. The actors in Devs did a great job. I really enjoyed the series.

This was a really excellent interview. Great questions and giving Alex all the time he needed to explain his thoughts, and really bringing his fascinations and sources of inspiration to the front and centre of our minds, as well as his passion for ideas, science, quantum and "Dark Souls". I will definitely be subscribing if this is representative of standard calibre of interviews. Keep it up.