We live now surrounded by artificial intelligences, even if we don’t always notice it: help us chat on WhatsApp and to respond to emails, they helped us process the data they allowed very quickly synthesize anti-Covid vaccines, they are capable of imitating us perfectly and at the same time defend ourselves from these perfect imitations. And soon they will as well write articles for us, perhaps compiling themselves a list of their favorite films about artificial intelligence, AI who decide what they are AI’s favorite AI movies.
They can do it soon, but not now. Because now we make this list. And since it’s not made by a machine, this list is by its very nature imperfect, incomplete, subjective. Personal, in short.
Comprehends the favorite works of the Italian Tech editorial staff, especially recent because it is also thanks to advances in technology that some ideas have been able to put into practice; does not include some great classics (which however are grouped at the end) e does not include TV series. Except one. Because we cannot fail to mention the character of Mother in Raised by Wolves if you want to understand what a sentient machine can be or should be. Or would like to be, too.
The films are sorted by release date, with an indication of the platform of streaming where they can be found for free (to find out where you can rent them there is justwatch.com), an explanation of the because see them and a brief summary of the plot. Trying to minimize spoilers.
cinema and tv
The 10 best movies (and series) about hackers
by Riccardo Meggiato
Blade Runner
In 1982, when the first film was released, the one directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, there was still no talk of artificial intelligences, but what else can replicants be but conscious machines? The story, based on a short story by writer Philip K. Dick, is about policeman Deckard who hunts down a group of rebel robots in Los Angeles in 2019 (yeah, that’s the past now) and their attempts to escape him and their will to live. And of the love of him for Rachael, who may be a car but maybe not. The film is still very beautiful today, as well as very beautiful (a little surprisingly) is also the sequel, Blade Runner 2049, with Ryan Gosling in the title role. Both are available on Netflix.
Artificial Intelligence
True: he is a bit naive (but he also has twenty years on his shoulders), imaginative, sentimental and feel-good, but with the title he has he could not fail to be on this list. Written and directed by Steven Spielberg, it is set in 2125 and has as protagonist the child David, who is not really a child, but a machine. The first machine capable of developing feelings and feeling love for human beings. Obviously things will not go well, so much so that to put them back in place the Blue Fairy will have to intervene. Seriously. The film is streaming on Tim Vision.
Me, robot
Directed by Alex Proyas and starring Will Smith, it does not follow the eponymous collection of short stories by Isaac Asimov from which it is based (written over 70 years ago), but it is perhaps the first film that is truly and faithfully inspired by the Laws of Robotics created by the visionary Russian author. There is a cop, a car accused of the murder of a human, a conspiracy, artificial intelligences fighting each other and the Chicago of 2035. Why watch it (it’s on Disney Plus)? Because the principles invented by Asimov really make up the basis from which real programmers start to create real robots in the real world.
Moon
This 2009 film is one of those that are not (only) what they seem: there is an astronaut on a solitary mission to the Moon, an artificial intelligence as the only company, the wait for the return to Earth and … because to say more would be to say too much and reveal the surprising ending, a perfect example of how even machines can feel empathy for humans. Sam Rockwell acts for an hour and a half practically alone, but as always he is very good: at the moment the film is only available for a fee on Google Play, Prime Video and Apple TV Plus.
She
Can you fall in love with a car? More precisely: you can fall in love with an operating system, a voice assistant, a virtual secretary until you can no longer conceive of living without it She? Because that’s what actor Joaquin Phoenix does in this moving 2013 film directed by Spike Jonze, awarded the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Maybe he (his character, that is) was predisposed, but it’s hard to see the ending without feeling some emotion. Aroused by a machine. Seen on Netflix.
Interstellar
The Earth is on the verge of an environmental catastrophe and humanity’s only hope is entrusted to a group of heroes who must find an alternate planet and this is a science fiction film in the most classic sense, between black holes, space-time distortions, spaceships and travels between galaxies. Just missing laser guns and blasters. And yet, the sense of humor, cynicism and empathy shown by robot Tars e Case (in different times and different ways, as if they were different people) perfectly represent what we are talking about when we talk about sentient machines. Even more so given the decidedly unwelcoming aspect they have. And then this work by Christopher Nolan is beautiful regardless. It is seen on Netflix and is from 2014.
Automata
Still the Earth close to destruction, still machines that want to survive, still Laws of Robotics violated: an insurer (Antonio Banderas) and a pathologist discover a kind of secret society of robots, which saves them when they are about to be shut down. When they are about to die, in short. And he decides to investigate: a conflict will arise in which the good ones are not always good, with an open and rather positive ending. Why every now and then imagine a future that is beautiful It does not hurt. The film is from 2014 and is available on Amazon Prime Video.
Ex Machina
A very skilled programmer, at the head of a company that is not Google but looks like Google in all respects, develops an artificial intelligence, puts it in a female (artificial) body and gets help from an employee to understand if it really looks real. . This is perhaps the film on this list that most of all conveys the idea of what and how a car might think, understood in the widest possible sense, from fears to nobility of mind, from baseness to subterfuges. Until the end, which is bitter precisely because it is very human. The film is from 2015 and is on Netflix.
Humandroid
Who remembers Short circuit, the beautiful science fiction film of 1986, cannot fail to find similarities with this film of 2015, directed by Neill Blomkamp and set in a fictional Johannesburg of 2016: there is a police robot named Chappie who develops some form of self-awareness, makes some friends and tries to survive the hardships of life. And to the clash with a robot much bigger and more evil than him. Why watch it (on Netflix or Sky)? To find out with some surprise that you can feel empathy for a machine and cheer for her. And also be a little touched when he says “now I’m afraid”.
I am Mother
Can a robot grow a human? Can you be a mother to a little girl? The premises of this film, released in 2019 on Netflix and starring Hilary Swank (who is the protagonist, but is actually the co-star), are just these: in a world of the future, a machine raises a child in a bunker, always keeping her locked inside. He tells her that he is doing it for her own safety, that humanity has been wiped out and that “there is no one out there.” Obviously it is not true.
Raised by Wolves
Earth is ravaged by war, and some survivors travel into space in hopes of populating other planets and restarting humanity. Others choose to entrust a handful of embryos to two robots who have the appearance of a woman and a man, to guard them, give them birth and grow them. They have no name, they are only Mother and Father: it is because they are machines, even if they do not act as machines. They have fears, desires, dreams, hopes, their own personality (especially her, played by the talented Amanda Collin). And they would do anything to defend their children, even if they are not their children. The series is on Sky and very, very beautiful for the first 3-4 episodes, then it worsens significantly. But luckily there will be a sequel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE92bDAlPXI
From Hal 9000 to Skynet, the great classics
Before Blade Runner wax Alien, and before that 2001: A Space Odyssey (they are respectively from 1979 and 1968). Why do we mention them? But why Ash and Hal 9000 are artificial intelligences, although this term was not used at the time and perhaps he never even imagined. Despite its age, Kubrick’s film is still very enjoyable, while if you want to get an idea of how the androids evolved in the series conceived by Ridley Scott, you can take a look at Covenant oh Prometheus, which in our opinion is less beautiful.
Then? And then of course Tron (the first, that of 1982), Wargames (1983), the aforementioned Short circuit, the trilogy of Matrix (indeed, only the first two) with the machines and their project to eliminate humanity from the Earth, because “you are a cancer for this planet, you are a plague, an extensive infection”. But most of all Terminator (all films, but especially the first three), because the phrase “Skynet became self-conscious at 2:14 am of 29 August ”is probably the reason why artificial intelligences scare us so much. Even if it was supposed to happen in 1997 and nothing actually happened. Not yet, at least.
.