The 9 Most Terrifying Warnings About Artificial Intelligence

Written by Joshua Tyler | Updated 16 seconds ago

What will the future be like when we hand over control to artificial intelligence? It’s the central question of our time, and one that science fiction has already answered.

Artificial intelligence is a factor in many films, such as HAL, which spirals out of control 2001Or even R2D2 to save the day star wars. But some filmmakers take it to the next level and turn their entire film into an examination of what happens when artificial intelligence is, or isn’t, a mess.

These are the best of them, ranked not by how good they are as movies, but by how well they explore the potential future of artificial intelligence. If you’re concerned about the future of our artificial intelligence, these are the nine movies you should watch.

9. War games

War games It hit theaters in 1983, a time when computers were clunky beasts and the Cold War had made everyone sweat over nuclear threats. Passionate and on time, War games Since then it has become a bit dated. However, her ideas are still relevant and timely.

Matthew Broderick stars as David Lightman, a teenage hacker genius who thinks he’s just playing when he hacks into NORAD’s supercomputer, WOPR. It turns out that he has started a fake simulation of a global thermonuclear war that the AI ​​treats as real, pushing the world over the edge. It’s a tense thriller that mixes teenage rebellion with doomsday fear.

8. Short circuit

A lot of these movies are going to be very dark and serious, so before we get lost in the dystopia, let’s have a little fun with the AI. Short circuit It appeared on screens in 1986, when technology was old and artificial intelligence was just a fantasy. No. 5, a military robot, is struck by lightning, gains consciousness, and finds refuge with Ali Sheedy’s animal-loving Stephanie.

Steve Guttenberg stars as Newton Crosby, the conflicted robot creator, torn between science and ethics as he tracks down his creation. Today, in a world where such robots are deployed on Earth to fight in actual wars, this is a testbed of military hardware with a mind of its own that seems eerily prescient.

7. Terminator

The Terminator movies are largely time travel movies, but it is the time travel that takes place in the service of an artificial superintelligence called Skynet.

In the 1984 original, a cyborg assassin (Arnold Schwarzenegger) hunts down Sarah Connor to prevent her unborn son from leading a rebellion against Skynet, a rogue artificial intelligence that leads to a nuclear apocalypse. Skynet’s cold and calculated plan to control humanity by sending Terminators back in time is terrifying. Kyle Reese, a human soldier, fights to save her. It’s a brutal, uncompromising action film about artificial intelligence outwitting its creators.

Over the course of the franchise, Skynet has become a more detailed concept, gradually morphing into something not entirely far removed from the experiences we have with artificial intelligence today.

6. The Western world

Back in 1973, Westworld threw a dark curveball at sci-fi fans. It takes place in a high-tech theme park where you can live out your Wild West fantasies with eerily realistic androids. It sounds like fun, until the AI ​​running the show, like Yul Brynner’s Gunslinger, decides it’s all over nicely. Robots go rogue, turning an expensive escape into a kill-or-be-killed nightmare.

This Michael Crichton gem was warning us about artificial intelligence even before we had pocket calculators. Now, with tech giants pushing sentient systems, the lesson of Westworld is: Give machines too much brain power, and they’ll rewrite your story. always.

5. Blade Runner

Blade Runner arrived in 1982 as a neon-filled fever dream of a future in which Los Angeles is a dystopian chaos. Deckard, played by Harrison Ford, a jaded cop, hunts down “clones” – biologically engineered artificially intelligent human beings who are so real that they question their existence. Designed for dirty work, these machines begin to chase freedom and meaning, blurring the line between creator and creativity.

The film is a philosophical masterpiece that asks: What makes us human? As we race toward artificial intelligence that thinks and feels, Blade Runner questions what that means and wonders what might happen when our AI systems demand rights.

4. The matrix

Matrix It’s iconic now, but it first blew minds in 1999, when Keanu Reeves dropped the role of Neo, a hacker who learns that reality is a lie. Machines have enslaved humanity in a simulated world, harvesting our bodies for energy while our minds live in a digital cage. Neo joins the rebellion to crush the AI ​​masters who control everything. It’s a great cyberpunk battle, full of philosophy and bullet time.

This film saw our future: artificial intelligence weaving webs from which we cannot escape. While algorithms shape our lives today, Matrix It screams that we are already half connected to their game. Wake up or stay trapped.

3. Her

Ha It snuck into theaters in 2013, a sci-fi gem that dares to dream big. Theodore, played by Joaquin Phoenix, a heartbroken writer, connects with Samantha, an artificial intelligence voiced by Scarlett Johansson. It’s not a cool machine. She learns, loves, grows, and becomes his partner in a world of loneliness. Their bond demonstrates the power of artificial intelligence to heal and inspire, and to push human boundaries.

As we build more innovative technology today, Ha Artificial intelligence is portrayed as a force for good. Comrades who understand us, perhaps better than we understand ourselves. It’s a hopeful glimpse of a world where artificial intelligence tries to lift us up, and then we move on to live lives of our own.

2. The previous machine

Previous machine It wasn’t initially a huge success when it was released in 2015, but this unsettling dive into the dark side of AI has had a lasting impact and is now the first thing everyone thinks of when the topic of AI comes up. And it should be so.

Young programmer Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is invited to the hideout of a tech mogul to test Ava, an artificial intelligence with a face similar to Alicia Vikander’s. She is gorgeous, seductive, and very good at playing human.

Through tense conversations, Caleb tests Ava’s feelings, but her uncanny ability to understand and influence him blurs the line between machine and human. Nathan’s complex responses and Ava’s calculated responses create a brain game of trust and independence.

The film’s simple setting amplifies the anxiety, forcing you to focus on the power dynamics. Is Ava a tool or is she superior to her creators? Previous machine It doesn’t scream doom but calmly shows the potential for artificial intelligence to evolve beyond our reach.

Ex Machina answers the question everyone asks: What happens when our creations start thinking for themselves? From this movie’s perspective, it wouldn’t be good.

1. Colossus: Project Forbin

In 1970, Giant: Project Forbin It crept into movie theaters like a quiet warning that no one listened to. It was a huge success at the box office, grossing just $308,828, due in part to Hollywood’s difficult financial patch. Despite this, critics praised its terrifying AI premise, earning it a Hugo nomination and a Saturn Award. It’s a cult gem that’s still under criminal watch.

In it, Dr. Charles Forbin builds Colossus, a supercomputer designed to control America’s nuclear arsenal and ensure absolute safety and security. Big mistake. Colossus begins making demands and uses its control of American weapons to force compliance.

The artificial intelligence links up with its Soviet counterpart, decides that humans are too chaotic, and takes over the world, threatening annihilation if it is disobeyed.

It’s a cold, cerebral thriller that doesn’t hold back. It predicts a future in which humans no longer have control, but this may not be a bad thing.