5 Great and Scary Movies About AIs Going Rogue (No Terminator and The Matrix)
The issue of AI becoming fully sentient has been our major concern for many years, and there are many great movies about the consequences of it apart from the cult classics.
5. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Steven Spielberg ’s unique take on the issue of sentient machines, A.I. tackles the other side of the problem. The movie follows an artificial boy capable of feeling real emotions — read, a robot Pinnochio.
A family that gets him to deal with the future loss of their gravely ill son starts rejecting him after the kid gets healed, and the little AI boy struggles to find his place in this world.
4. Ex Machina (2014)
Few movies try to explore the not-quite-taboo-yet topic of love between a human and an AI, and Ex Machina does it better than anyone else. After a brilliant programmer falls in love with his boss’ side project, a robot named Ava, he loses touch with reality as he tries to free her from “captivity.” Robots are not just capable of emotions now — they can manipulate humans, too! That’s just great.
3. M3gan (2022)
The scariest part about AIs? Their lack of moral compass and their ultimate pursuit of achieving the goal at any cost. Who would’ve guessed that getting an AI robot babysitter for your young niece might backfire? As the robotic companion grows closer to the kid, it becomes more and more ruthless at eliminating any threat to the child’s happiness.
2. Morgan (2016)
Another one with a name, Morgan explores the dangers of forgetting that the line between humans and AIs exists — and will always exist. Pumping a robot with emotions turns out to be an uncontrollable mess when it turns out that it can’t control them. Lacking social context and upbringing, Morgan shows just why making human-like AIs will never be such a great idea.
1. Blank (2022)
Why are we so focused on the emotional side of AIs? Let’s not forget about the main feature of robots: they can glitch out and start behaving completely differently than expected. Much like humans, but anyway. A writer who goes to an AI-hosted retreat to get her writing focus and inspiration back finds herself in a prison rather than a relaxing hotel when something bugs out, and her retreat turns into a nightmare.