Person of Interest: Finch's Real Inspiration For Building The Machine - Screen Rant

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Person of Interest’s Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) was hired to build the Machine for the government as a response to 9/11, but his interest in designing such a highly advanced artificial intelligence actually goes all the way back to events from his childhood. The Machine was Finch’s greatest creation, and in the pilot episode, he explained to Reese (Jim Caviezel) that he designed the Machine for the U.S. government for the purpose of detecting acts of terror. The idea was to stop another 9/11 from happening, but Finch and his partner, Nathan Ingram (Brett Cullen) soon discovered the scope of its capabilities extended beyond that.

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As it turned out, the Machine’s ability to see everything allowed it to predict everyday murders in addition to acts of terror by utilizing its intelligence. Unfortunately, the government considered these domestic crimes “irrelevant”, and made no efforts to stop them. That’s ultimately what led to Reese and Finch’s mission in Person of Interest, doing what the government wouldn't because regular citizens still needed help in saving. Together, they used Finch’s connection to the Machine to prevent murders before they could happen.

In Person of Interest season 3, a flashback into Harold Finch’s early life shed some light on what really inspired the creation of the Machine. Apparently, his interests in artificial intelligence began when he was just a child. At this time, Finch was being raised by his father, who was already showing signs of dementia. Naturally, Finch worried about his mental health and told him in 1971 that his goal was to build a machine with so much memory space that it could retain his father’s memories for him. This way, they would never be lost. His father was opposed to the idea, as he felt that the machine wouldn’t really be him. Nevertheless, Finch held on to the concept, and his interest in it only increased as time passed. Years later, a teenage Finch expressed his continued commitment to the idea to his father.

Their relationship played a key role in the person that Finch ultimately became; it also relates to his choice of aliases. Apparently, Finch’s fondness for birds was developed during the time they spent together, and that would appear to be what inspired not only his “Finch” name but the others that he used in the past as well, including “Wren” and “Martin”.

Unfortunately, the story of Finch’s father in Person of Interest reached a tragic end. Finch tried to care for his father through his teenage and college years, but his father's deteriorating mental condition reached a point where he was unable to recognize him. As Finch’s activities started getting him in trouble with the law, he ended up avoiding contact with him. Later on, Finch formed friendships with Nathan Ingram and Arthur Claypool (Saul Rubinek) at MIT, which eventually blossomed into the birth of the Machine in the early 2000s.

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About The Author

Nicholas Raymond (1858 Articles Published)

Nicholas Raymond is a staff features writer for Screen Rant. He has a degree in journalism from the University of Montevallo. He is the author of the psychological thriller and time travel novel, "A Man Against the World." Nicholas' love for telling stories is inspired by his love for film noir, westerns, superhero movies, classic films, foreign cinema, and wuxia. He also has interests in ancient history. His favorite actors are Tyrone Power, Charlton Heston, and Eleanor Parker. His favorite film is Casablanca, and his favorite director is Alfred Hitchcock. He can be reached by email at cnrmail@bellsouth.net and on Twitter at @cnraymond91.