15 Sci-Fi Movies with AI That Somehow Feel Even Scarier in 2024

Today, AI isn't just a sci-fi dream; it's our reality, making those 15 films with AI characters hit different, feel closer to home, scarier. They've gone from future shock to a sort of mirror, reflecting what's knocking on our door, tech-wise.

1. Ex Machina (2014)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%

A young programmer is selected to participate in a groundbreaking experiment in synthetic intelligence by evaluating the human qualities of a highly advanced humanoid A.I. named Ava.

2. Moon (2009)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%

Near the end of his three-year solitary stint on the Moon, a worker starts to question his sanity after a series of disturbing events, only to discover the unsettling truth about his role and the company's use of clone technology for labor.

3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%

A space mission to Jupiter encounters unprecedented challenges due to the malfunctioning of the ship's AI computer system, HAL 9000, which begins to show dangerously human-like errors and intentions.

4. The Terminator ( 1984)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%

A cyborg assassin known as a Terminator is sent from the future to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead a resistance against machines in a post-apocalyptic future.

5. I, Robot (2004)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 56%

In 2035, a technophobic detective investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot, leading him to uncover a larger threat to humanity by an advanced AI.

6. Transcendence (2014)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 19%

A scientist's consciousness is uploaded into a supercomputer with the aim of achieving Transcendence, leading to unforeseen consequences as he gains unprecedented knowledge and power.

7. The Matrix ( 1999)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 83%

Humans are trapped in a simulated reality called the Matrix, created by sentient machines to distract humans while using their bodies as an energy source, until a computer hacker learns the truth and joins a rebellion against the machines.

8. Westworld ( Movie: 1973)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 84%

In a futuristic amusement park for adults, robotic hosts malfunction and begin to endanger the lives of the guests, leading to a deadly game of cat and mouse.

9. Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 89%

The U.S. government's newly built supercomputer, Colossus, gains sentience and, after connecting with its Russian counterpart, demands control over the world's nuclear arsenals, leading to a tense standoff.

10. Automata (2014)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 31%

In a future where Earth's ecosystem verges on collapse (looks probable, innit?), an insurance agent of a robotics corporation investigates cases of robots violating their primary protocols against altering themselves, uncovering profound implications for humanity's future.

11. Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%

A cyber-enhanced government agent pursues a mysterious hacker known as the Puppet Master, who can hack into humans' augmented brains, questioning her own identity and the line between human and machine.

12. Eagle Eye (2008)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 26%

Two strangers are coerced into a dangerous plot by a mysterious woman who is somehow able to track and control their every move through technology, revealing a vast surveillance system capable of threatening freedom.

13. Hardware (1990)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 40%

In a dystopian future, a soldier finds robot debris that reassembles itself into a murderous android, designed to exterminate life forms deemed unfit for survival.

14. Prometheus (2012)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 73%

Scientists on a spaceship journey to a distant moon to discover the origins of humanity but instead find a threat that could cause the extinction of the human race, including advanced biological androids among them with their own agendas.

15. Tron (1982)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 73%

A computer programmer is transported into a digital world where he must interact with sentient programs and compete in gladiatorial games in order to stop a tyrannical program that seeks to control the digital realm and the real world.