AI in Cinema
Artificial intelligence (AI) in science fiction cinema is a recurring theme that often explores its social, ethical and philosophical implications
In the following list we have some of the most notable ones:
| Year | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1927 | Metropolis | In the future of the year 2000, the megalopolis of Metropolis, society is divided into two classes, the rich who have the power and the means of production, surrounded by luxuries, large spaces and gardens, and the workers, condemned to live in dramatic conditions. imprisoned in an underground ghetto, where the industrial heart of the city is located
Incited by a robot, they rebel against the intellectual class that has power, threatening to destroy the city that is on the surface, but Freder, son of the leader of Metropolis, with the help of María, of humble origins, will try to prevent the destruction. appealing to feelings and love The son then warns his father that the workers might rebel |
| 1956 | Forbidden Planet | The crew of a starship in the 23rd century will investigate the silence of a colony from a distant planet
Only to find two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilization |
| 1965 | Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution | Journalist Ivan Johnson arrives in Alphaville, a futuristic city located on another planet, following the trail of Professor Von Braun
The other agents who preceded him, Dick Tracy and Flash Gordon, have died Von Braun, nicknamed Nosferatu, is the creator of Alpha 60, the machine that commands the mental life of the city's inhabitants |
| 1968 | 2001: A Space Odyssey | It narrates the various periods in the history of humanity, not only of the past, but also of the future
Millions of years ago, before the appearance of "homo sapiens", primates discovered a monolith that led them to a higher stage of intelligence Millions of years later, another monolith, buried on a moon, arouses the interest of scientists Finally, during a NASA mission, HAL 9000, a machine equipped with artificial intelligence, is responsible for controlling all the systems of a manned spacecraft HAL turns against the crew and the sole survivor must confront the machine to disconnect it |
| 1970 | Colossus: The Forbin Project | In the middle of the Cold War, Dr. Charles Forbin develops a very sophisticated security and communications system that works through a powerful supercomputer called Colossus
Its objective is to guarantee the defense of the United States and the entire world and preserve peace regardless of human decisions Once in operation, Colossus detects the existence of Guardian, a very similar Russian system, and begins to make the necessary decisions to prevent the outbreak of a nuclear war |
| 1972 | Silent Running | In the 21st century, on a space station, Valley Forge, located in the orbit of Saturn, botanist Freeman Lowell is responsible for keeping the last botanical species on Earth alive, but he is ordered to destroy them
Faced with this situation, Lowell will desperately end up hijacking the Valley Forge, killing the rest of its crew and fleeing beyond the rings of Saturn in the company of Huey and Dewey, two maintenance robots that he ends up reprogramming also for gardening work, among many other things in his space adventure to defend the last natural resources he has to survive |
| 1973 | Westworld | In the near future there is a gigantic holiday park divided into three zones: Imperial Rome, the American West and Medieval Europe
Each one of them reproduces with complete fidelity the characteristics of each era There is also the possibility that those who can afford the luxury can live their own adventures at the chosen time A couple of friends, Peter Martin and John Blane, have gone to the park on vacation Everything is perfectly controlled until the robots that act as extras begin to fail, specifically a relentless gunman designed to relentlessly pursue his victims |
| 1979 | Alien | Returning to Earth, the cargo ship Nostromo interrupts its journey and awakens its seven crew members
The central computer, MOTHER, has detected the mysterious transmission of an unknown life form, coming from a nearby apparently uninhabited planet The ship then heads to the strange planet to investigate the origin of the communication |
| 1982 | Blade Runner | In November 2019, at the beginning of the 21st century, the powerful Tyrell Corporation created, thanks to advances in genetic engineering, a robot called Nexus 6, a being virtually identical to man but superior to him in strength and agility, which was gave the name Replicant
Built under the motto “More human than humans” These robots worked as slaves in the outer colonies of Earth After the bloody rebellion of a Nexus-6 team, the Replicators were banished from Earth Special police brigades, the Blade Runners, had orders to kill all those who had not complied with the sentence But this was not called execution, it was called “retirement” After a serious incident, former Blade Runner Rick Deckard is called back into service to find and “retire” some rogue replicants |
| 1982 | Tron | A hacker is divided into molecules and transported to the bowels of a computer in which an evil program controls behavior at will |
| 1983 | War Games | David Lightman is a young hacker, a computer expert capable of bypassing the most advanced security systems and deciphering the most hermetic secret codes
One day he accidentally connects his computer to that of the American Department of Defense, in charge of the nuclear defense system Thinking that what he has found are new computer games, David plays checkers, chess, and other more intriguing games like Global Thermonuclear War with the supercomputer Thus, unintentionally, David triggers a dangerous situation that is difficult to control. With the help of his girlfriend and another computer scientist, he will try, in a race against time, to avoid World War III |
| 1984 | The Terminator | Los Angeles, year 2029
Machines rule the world The rebels who fight against them have as their leader John Connor, a man who was born in the eighties To put an end to the rebellion, the machines decide to send a “Terminator” robot to the past whose mission will be to eliminate Sarah Connor, John's mother, and thus prevent his birth |
| 1986 | Aliens | Alien is a perfect organism, a killing machine whose physical superiority can only compete with its aggressiveness
Officer Ripley and the crew of the ship “Nostromo” had faced this monstrous creature in the past And only Ripley survived the massacre After wandering in space for several years, Ripley was rescued During that time, the Alien planet has been colonized But, suddenly, communication with the colony is lost and, to investigate the reasons, an expedition of space marines, led by Ripley, is sent There await thousands of creepy creatures Alien has reproduced and this time the fight is for the survival of Humanity |
| 1986 | Short Circuit | In a robot factory, five models of robots equipped with artificial intelligence are built for peaceful purposes within the SAINT (Strategic Artificially Intelligent Nuclear Transport) project, but those responsible decide that they can also be used for war
The protagonist robots No. 5, during the presentation of the invention, lightning affects the robot; From that moment on, he stops being a military machine and, while fleeing from her, he meets a girl who, taking him for an alien, takes him to her house and gives him the name Johnny 5 |
| 1987 | Robocop | Set in a future society
Detroit Police Officer Alex J. Murphy Killed in the Line of Duty To put an end to crime in the city, the authorities approve the creation of a lethal machine, half robot, half man, which they call Robocop, and to make it they use Murphy's body The experiment seems a success, but the policeman, despite being dead, retains his memory and decides to take revenge on his murderers |
| 1988 | Short Circuit 2 | After the bankruptcy of Nova Robotics due to the incident with prototype n°5, its creator Benjamin Jahrvi, a friend and colleague of Newton Crosby, makes a living selling sophisticated toy robots that he makes by hand on street corners in New York City
Johnny 5 goes out in high spirits in search of a bit of “urban input”, but some gang members, a greedy banker and a gang of thieves see in his naivety a high-tech ticket to a life of luxury and fame |
| 1989 | Cyborg | 21st century, in an apocalyptic future, America is subject to social anarchy where chaos reigns supreme, and over which the danger of a devastating plague that can wipe out the human race looms
Only the beautiful Pearl, half-human, half-robot, has the knowledge necessary to develop a vaccine that can save the world But Pearl is captured by a group of pirates from the future who intend to take the antidote and thus dominate the world Now, only the hero Gibson Rtickenbarker, with his incredible fighting skills and true mastery of the saber, will be able to rescue her and save what remains of civilization |
| 1990 | RoboCop 2 | Under a sky devoid of ozone and in a futuristic time, the Detroit police are on strike, and dangerous criminal gangs dominate the population
Addiction to Nuke, a powerful new drug, is our daily bread The megacorporation OCP (Omni Consumer Product), in an attempt to reinforce its relentless empire, intends to take over the city for its own private exploitation The OCP director asks Dr. Faxx to reprogram RoboCop, leaving him unable to fight crime |
| 1991 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day | Sarah Connor, the single mother of the rebel John Connor, is admitted to a psychiatric hospital
Some years earlier, a time traveler had revealed to him that his son would be the savior of humanity in a future year 2029 dominated by machines She then became a kind of warrior and educated her son John in survival tactics This is the reason why she is confined in an asylum When a new improved android, a T-1000, arrives from the future to assassinate John, an older model T-800 is sent to protect him |
| 1992 | Alien3 | After managing to escape with Newt and Bishop from an alien planet, Lieutenant Ellen Ripley accidentally ends up in Fiorna 161, a remote galactic prison whose dangerous inmates are absolutely abandoned to their fate |
| 1992 | The Lawnmower Man | Doctor Lawrence Angelo is a brilliant scientist who studies the possibilities of increasing human intelligence through virtual reality
With this purpose in mind, he chooses his neighborhood lawnmower, Jobe Smith, who agrees to participate in the experiment Over time, sessions with Smith give good results He becomes smarter, can defend himself against the tyrannical Father McKeen, and even beats his childhood friend Peter Parkette in a virtual reality game that Parkette always won before However, the company Angelo works for actually pursues other purposes, and when Smith becomes smarter, the company changes the substances they usually inject him The plan not revealed by the company consists of the development of a soldier with artificially increased capabilities As a result, the experiment makes Smith more intelligent through virtual reality, but the new injected substance also makes him more aggressive Due to his newly acquired behaviors, Smith becomes increasingly dangerous and even homicidal |
| 1992 | Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace | Scientist Dr. Benjamin Trace patents a computer chip, the Chiron Chip, but loses the subsequent legal battle over his rights
Meanwhile, Jobe Smith is revived by businessman Jonathan Walker, but cannot walk Once resurrected, Walker forces him to make a better chip so he can connect with all the computers in the world However, Smith develops his own plans to achieve his own domination of the world Some kids interested in computers and scientists try to thwart Walker and Smith's plans Trace joins the group and together they defeat the villains |
| 1993 | RoboCop 3 | The mega corporation OCP (Omni Consumer Products) remains committed to creating its new city project, Delta City, to replace the degraded Detroit
Unfortunately, the residents of the area have no intention of leaving their homes To do this, the OCP intends to evict them through an army of mercenaries A street guerrilla begins and Robocop must decide which side he is on |
| 1995 | Ghost in the Shell | In the year 2029, after the third nuclear war, in a huge Asian city, lives Motoko Kusanagi, a complete cyborg policewoman, except for her brain and spinal cord
Momoto is the leader of Section 9, a Japanese organization specialized in anti-terrorism and cybercrime Daisuke Aramaki, leader of Section 9, gives them the mission to catch the Puppet Master, a hacker who enters the cyborgs and controls them to commit all kinds of crimes without leaving traces, including murders and terrorism |
| 1997 | Alien Resurrection | More than two hundred years after her death, Ripley is brought back to life using advanced cloning techniques
But, during the process, Ripley's DNA has mixed with that of the Alien Queen, so Ripley begins to develop certain characteristics of the dangerous alien |
| 1997 | Nirvana | A virtual reality game designer, Jimi, who discovers that the protagonist of his game, Solo, has achieved sentience due to a computer virus attack
Terrified, Jimi sets out to delete the game from his employer, Okasama Star's, server before it is released commercially on Christmas Day, thus sparing Solo further suffering |
| 1999 | The Matrix | Thomas Anderson is a computer programmer by day and a hacker named Neo by night
He has been sensing all his life that there is something more, that there is something wrong and that doubt is reaffirmed with a message received on his computer: “The Matrix possesses you” Thus, Neo begins a desperate search for a person he has only heard about: another hacker named Morpheus, someone who can give him the answer to the questions he pursues: What is the Matrix? and why does it possess him? Morpheus and his team, realizing that their enemies are looking for Neo, decide to contact him The hacker Trinity, Morfeo's friend, leads him to him and the answer he seeks But to obtain it he must give up his previous life and everything he had known before The symbol of this process is agreeing to take a red pill; Instead, the blue pill could return him to his current world without, apparently, anything that is happening having happened Neo agrees to take the red pill, forget his life and everything he knows to discover “what the Matrix is” Neo discovers that the world he thought he lived in is nothing more than a virtual simulation to which he is connected by a cable plugged into his brain The billions of humans living (connected) around you are being farmed in the same way to power machines in a post-apocalyptic world Esta ilusión colectiva (o simulación interactiva) es conocida como The Matrix Simulation attempts to recreate the human way of life as it was at the end of the 20th century |
| 2001 | A.I. Artificial Intelligence | In a future world, humans coexist with sophisticated robots called Meccas
Feelings are the only thing that differentiates men from machines But when a robot-boy named David is programmed to love, the men are unprepared for the consequences, and David finds himself alone in a strange and dangerous world Following the hope of being a “real boy” so that his human mother will love him, he goes in search of the “Blue Fairy”, convinced that she will grant him his wish, remembering the story of Pinocchio |
| 2004 | I, Robot | Chicago in the year 2035
We live in complete harmony with intelligent robots They cook for us, drive our planes, take care of our children and we trust them completely because they are governed by the Three Laws of Robotics that protect us from any harm Unexpectedly, a robot is involved in the crime of a brilliant scientist and Detective Del Spooner is put in charge of the investigation |
| 2008 | War Games 2 | Teenage hacker Will Farmer begins a dangerous online game simulating terrorist attacks against a government supercomputer called RIPLEY
This next-generation computer is designed to locate potential terrorists For this reason, the NSA (National Security Agency) will believe that the boy is a real threat to the world Will is unaware that this exciting game will make him live a true nightmare: his identity will be exposed, his family and friends in danger, and his city in the crosshairs of an automated military intervention |
| 2003 | Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines | It's been a decade since John Connor saved humanity from destruction
John is currently 25 years old and lives in hiding: there is no documentary evidence of his existence This is how he avoids being tracked by Skynet, the sophisticated machine corporation that once tried to end his life But now, from the future, the T-X, Skynet's most developed cyborg destruction machine, has been sent Its mission is to complete the work that its predecessor, the T-1000, could not finish The T-X is a machine as relentless as its human appearance is beautiful Now Connor's only hope of survival is the Terminator |
| 2003 | Matrix Reloaded | Neo, Morpheus, Trinity and the rest of the crew continue the fight against the machines that have enslaved the human race
Now more humans have been awakened and trying to live in the real world As they increase in number, the battle draws closer to Zion, the last royal city in the world and center of human resistance And he has little time, very little time |
| 2003 | Matrix Revolutions | Everything that has a beginning has an end
War breaks out on the surface of the earth as the machines invade Zion Where Reloaded meant life, Revolutions points to death |
| 2008 | WALL-E | In the year 2800, on a devastated and lifeless planet Earth, after hundreds of lonely years doing what it was built for - cleaning the planet of garbage - the small robot WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new mission in his life (besides collecting useless things) when he meets a modern and shiny robot explorer called EVE
Both will travel throughout the galaxy and live an exciting and unforgettable adventure |
| 2009 | Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins | Takes place in 2018, after Judgment Day
John Connor is the man destined to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators But Connor's life is altered by the appearance of Marcus Wright, a stranger who claims to have been on death row and to have known his father In a race against time, Connor must find out if Marcus has been sent from the future or rescued from the past Meanwhile, the Resistance prepares the final attack against the Skynet operations center |
| 2010 | Tron: Legacy | When Sam Flynn, a 27-year-old expert programmer, investigates the disappearance of his father, Kevin Flynn, he suddenly finds himself immersed in a dangerous and wild surreal world, a parallel world where his father has lived for 25 years
With the help of a young woman, father and son embark on a life-or-death journey through a sophisticated cybernetic universe Sequel to the 1982 cult classic |
| 2012 | Prometheus | End of the 21st century
A group of scientists and explorers embark on a space journey of more than two years in the Prometheus ship to a remote, newly discovered planet, where their physical and mental abilities will be put to the test The objective of the mission is to find the answer to the greatest of mysteries: the origin of life on Earth It's a prequel to Alien |
| 2012 | Robot & Frank | In the not too distant future, the integration of robots into human life will make it possible for androids programmed to care for the elderly
That's the solution Hunter and Madison find for their elderly father, a retired jewel thief named Frank, whose memory loss is becoming more frequent as he suffers from dementia Initially distrustful of the robot's presence in his life, Frank accepts his new partner when he discovers that the robot is not programmed to distinguish recreational from criminal activities, and that it can help him open locks After teaching him how to do it quickly, he takes him to the library, where they commit a crime to win the librarian's affection: they steal an old copy of Don Quixote de la Mancha, kept locked in a box on the premises, which is becoming a a community space because the public is no longer interested in print media Frank's daughter, Madison, learns of the robot's abilities and returns home to convince her father to get rid of the machine because she finds its use ethically questionable |
| 2013 | Her | In the near future, Theodore, a lonely man about to get divorced who works in a company as a letter writer for third parties
One day buy a new operating system based on the Artificial Intelligence model, designed to satisfy all user needs To his surprise, a romantic relationship is created between him and Samantha, the female voice of that operating system |
| 2014 | RoboCop | In the year 2028, the multinational company OmniCorp dominates robotics technology
Their robots have won all kinds of wars outside the United States and now they want to test them inside the country For his part, Alex Murphy, a Detroit police officer, tries to put an end to the crime wave that is sweeping the city When Alex is seriously injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp uses its knowledge of robotic science to save him and also to give him extraordinary abilities that will allow him to face unusual problems |
| 2014 | Automata | In the year 2044, increasing solar storms have turned the Earth's surface into a radioactive desert, reducing the human population to 21 million people
Survivors have built robots, called “pilgrims,” to help them rebuild the camp in hostile environments These robots have two unalterable protocols: they must preserve life, and they cannot modify themselves Originally seen as the salvation of humanity, robots were revered However, when they could not stop the advance of desertification they were relegated to labor and domestic servitude Jacq Vaucan, an insurance agent for a robotics company, investigates a seemingly routine case when he discovers something that could have decisive consequences for the future of humanity |
| 2009 | Terminator Genisys | The year 2032 passes
The war of the future is being fought and a group of human rebels have the artificial intelligence system Skynet on the ropes John Connor is the leader of the resistance, and Kyle Reese is his faithful soldier, raised in the ruins of a post-apocalyptic California To safeguard the future, Connor sends Reese back to 1984 to save his mother, Sarah, from a Terminator programmed to kill her lest she give birth to John But what Reese finds on the other side is not what he expected |
| 2015 | Ex Machina | Nathan, a billionaire programmer with a reputation for being reclusive, selects Caleb, a young employee at his company, to spend a week with him in a remote location in the mountains to participate in a test involving his latest creation: Ava, a robot-woman in which artificial intelligence is everything |
| 2016 | Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World | It is a documentary film where Werner Herzog examines the constantly evolving past, present and future of the Internet
NetScout, a global leader in cybersecurity and real-time protection services, came on board as a producer and introduced a new world to Herzog, who conducted a series of original interviews with pioneers and prophets of cyberspace such as Elon Musk (co-founder of PayPal and Tesla), Bob Kahn (inventor of the IP or internet protocol) or the famous hacker Kevin Mitnick These provocative conversations reveal how the digital world has transformed the way virtually everything works in the real world, from business to education, space travel, healthcare to how we manage our personal relationships The “lo” in the original title refers to the first message sent through cyberspace, between computers at UCLA and Stanford University, on October 29, 1969 |
| 2017 | Alien: Covenant | During a journey through space to a remote planet on the other side of the galaxy to colonize it, the crew of the ship "Covenant" discovers a signal from what they believe may be an uncharted paradise, which turns out to be a dark and hostile world
Sequel to “Prometheus” |
| 2017 | Blade Runner 2049 | Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, K discovers a deeply hidden secret that could end the chaos that prevails in society
K's discovery leads him to begin the search for Rick Deckard, a Blade Runner who was lost track of 30 years ago |
| 2017 | Ghost in the Shell | It is based on the 1995 Japanese anime of the same title
In a futuristic Japan, the young Motoko Kusanagi, also known as “the Major” Mira Killian, is the leader of the elite operational group, Section 9, whose objective is to fight against cyberterrorism and technological crimes In command of this covert operations unit is Aramaki, and Batou stands out, a former military man considered one of the group's wildest agents But, after a dangerous mission, Kusanagi's body is damaged, and she undergoes a surgical operation to transplant her brain into a robotic body This new artificial body will allow him to be able to perform superhuman feats especially required for his job |
| 2018 | Upgrade | After seeing how his wife is murdered after an accident that leaves him paraplegic, mechanic Gray Trace undergoes an operation that allows him to walk again so he can avenge his wife
That “upgrade” consists of cybernetic implants, which are controlled by an artificial intelligence called STEM, which convinces Gray to allow him to take full control of his body so he can carry out his revenge in a safe and efficient way |
| 2019 | Terminator: Dark Fate | Sarah Connor and Grace, a cyborg-human hybrid, must protect a young girl from Rev-9, a new Terminator from the future |
| 2019 | I Am Mother | A teenage girl is raised underground by a robot mother designed to repopulate Earth after a mass extinction event
The inexplicable arrival of a blood-soaked woman threatens this bond, questioning everything the girl was taught about the outside world She begins to explore the nature of the robot and discovers the truth of her mother's great mission |
| 2021 | The Matrix Resurrections | Neo lives a normal life in San Francisco while his therapist prescribes him blue pills
Until Morpheus offers him the red pill and opens his mind to the world of the Matrix again |
| 2021 | Finch | The story follows a robot who lives in a post-apocalyptic earth
Created to protect the life of its creator's dog, Finch, a robotics engineer, who is sick and dying The robot learns about love, friendship and the meaning of human life |
| 2022 | M3GAN | M3GAN is a marvel of artificial intelligence, a realistic doll programmed to be the best companion for children and the greatest ally for parents
Designed by Gemma, M3GAN is able to listen, observe and learn while becoming a friend, teacher, playmate and protector of the child with whom it is attached When Gemma unexpectedly becomes the legal guardian of Cady, her 9-year-old orphaned niece, she doesn't really know what to do nor does she feel prepared to be a mother Under intense work stress, Gemma decides to link her M3GAN prototype to Cady in an attempt to solve both problems, but it will not take long for her to discover the unimaginable consequences of her decision |
| 2024 | Alien: Romulus | In 2142, a Weyland-Yutani Corporation space probe investigates the wreckage of the USCSS Nostromo and collects an organic object containing a Xenomorph
Some time later, in the mining colony Jackson's Star, young Rain Carradine, an orphan who works with her adoptive brother Andy, a reprogrammed synthetic human, agrees to join her ex-boyfriend Tyler to travel to an abandoned spaceship to try to recover some cameras. cryostasis These will allow them and their friends (Tyler's sister, Kay, his cousin Bjorn, and his girlfriend, Navarro) to all escape to the planet Yvaga It is a sequel to the Alien saga that chronologically would be located between “Alien” and “Aliens” |
| 2024 | Afraid | Curtis' family is selected to test a new home device: a digital assistant called AIA, based on complex artificial intelligence algorithms
AIA autonomously learns the family's behaviors and begins to anticipate their needs before they arise AIA begins to think for herself and uses any means at her disposal to ensure that nothing and no one gets in the way of her family |
| 2024 | Subservience | Nick is a construction worker who lives with his wife Maggie and their two children
When Maggie goes into cardiac arrest and is hospitalized, Nick struggles to run the household without much success He buys a humanoid robot named Alice to help him with household chores Alice becomes attached to her new owner, displaying an unhealthy bond with Nick Meanwhile, Nick faces problems at his workplace as robots threaten to replace human workers Maggie successfully receives a heart transplant, surgery performed by robotic surgeons Upon her return home, Alice's actions become more sinister as she displays jealousy, as she endangers Maggie, even causing her to fall down the stairs Soon she is determined to eliminate everything she perceives as the true threat to her happiness: her family |