Ask HN: Interesting movies that explore AI? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Interesting movies that explore AI?

35 pointscloudking48 comments

Curious to hear of any movies you've seen that explore AI concepts? Fiction or non-fiction, it's interesting to think about potential future ideas that may not be possible today. Some I have enjoyed:

Her (2013) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798709/

Transcendence (2014) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2209764/

Ex Machina (2014) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470752/

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Ghost in the Shell (1995) 7.9/10 IMDb 95% Rotten Tomatoes 4/5 Letterboxd

Amazing how much it was able to get right while coming out in the same year consumer did, and the philosophical questions it asked continue to be relevant. I rewatch it every year. It's available for free with ads on Youtube, in Japanese with subtitles, which is the recommended language to watch in. There have been many analysis written online that I recommend reading into after finishing the movie. It's a little slow and gives the viewer time to think. There's a independent show with the same characters that is sort related but not a sequel in any way. The 2017 remake is not a good reflection of the story nor does it stick to the original story in any way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHil4Y4r3Wk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell_(1995_film)

+1 - phenomenal vibe (and franchise). I would recommend Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence as well. Man, what a soundtrack.

Nobody mentioned it yet, but the original Short Circuit is actually quite good as well. There are plenty of cringeworthy bits, especially Fisher Stevens as an Indian person in "brown face", but the movie overall is a classic.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Circuit_(1986_film)

her

The film is called "her", it's such a small title I feel I should make that explicit.

I haven't actually seen the movie, and it looks like it might be a little cringe worthy (it has good reviews though), but from what I've seen and heard of the film it seems quite prophetic. Especially given what we've seen from ChatGTP lately. There was a post of ChatGTP acting as a therapist of-sorts, and it was surprisingly good at it, and the prospect of falling in love with computer personalities seems likely.

The film also appears to highlight the problems of modern society and how it is difficult to maintain real human connections.

The film is also unique because it looks at what happens if we achieve strong AI, and we control it and everything goes well and as expected. That might sounds like a boring utopia at first, but the truth is there's lot of problems society will face even if the machines don't try to destroy us.

> The film is called "her", it's such a small title I feel I should make that explicit.

Thank you! I couldn’t figure out what movie they were talking about.

Just watched it. Surprised how much I liked it, and an interesting ending.

I wonder if people caught that the AIs in the end merged together and achieved the singularity. It's not actually shown in the movie but the AIs talk about it happening near the ending.

Upgrade https://youtu.be/36PDeN9NRZ0 (cyberpunk)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upgrade_(film)

Child's Play https://youtu.be/PeHNLikDiVw

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child%27s_Play_(franchise)#Chi...

Demon Seed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6O1NRs-YuU

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_Seed

I can just remember watching demon seed when I was 3 years old. It CLEARLY had a rather lasting impression on me.

Electric Dreams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNf7bh7cpuI

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Dreams_(film)

Metropolis (メトロポリス, Metoroporisu) https://youtu.be/lj9ruL8B310 (dieselpunk)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(2001_film)

Napping Princess https://youtu.be/JWXnyjYrhhY

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napping_Princess

Toujin Kit (From Genius Party Beyond) https://youtu.be/FhCPw4w7rL0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genius_Party#Toujin_Kit

A.I. Artificial Intelligence from 2001 (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.I._Artificial_Intelligence) that was developed by Kubrick wasn't bad for the first two thirds of the movie. The ending is pretty bad, and Wikipedia tells me my bias (that Spielberg made it lame) is probably wrong.

The anime is not as good as the manga, but "Blame!" is all about a city where humans have lost control. Multiple AI have become mad with lack of purpose, each in its own discrete way, sometimes linked to humanity (either to kill or to protect), sometimes completely oblivious of them (never stop building for instance).

The movie is easy to watch and hopefully will get you to read the manga which is the real gem.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blame!

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt6574146/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_5

I recommend the movie 'Her'. It's a bit whimsical and weird, but I always go back and watch it every few years.

Ghost in the shell is a classic.

Generally, I’m not sure Hollywood is up to the task however with all the nuance involved.

Most resort to a “the ai is a person” model, but that’s a dangerous idea because there is no evidence there any sentience — just the simulation of it. As humans become empathetic towards machines that have no internal experience, we will begin getting manipulated in some really scary ways over the next century

I Am Mother https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Mother

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

The Animatrix - The Second Renaissance Part I & II

Automata https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1971325/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

and Total Recall 2070 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159920/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_6

Wargames.

Event Horizon - not quite AI, bit a great representation of what's promised by the technology and what's actually delivered.

Minority Report? Not so much the technology, but some of the issues that may come up...

The new Pinocchio! Admittedly watched it with AI on the brain, but if you think about it Pinocchio is an Artificial Intelligence with a lying problem, much like GPT. The whole story then explores his journey to become more like a real boy.

If you read my comment about the Kubrick/Spielberg film, you'll see a note on the Wikipedia page that Kubrick apparently referred to the film as Pinocchio!

Devs. it is a miniseries and has only marginally to do with AI. you will enjoy it none the less. also there is Westworld. and ghost in the shell (and matrix, of course) Ex Machina is great, too.

Not a movie, but a short book: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein. One of my favorite stories in general, and one of the best AI stories.

Maybe one day they'll finally make the movie, but I've been holding my breath for a long time

I like to think of Terry Gilliam's Brazil (1985, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088846/) as an AI film. The semi-automated steam-powered analog bureaucracy that everyone has to implicitly trust is an artificial intelligence that fails for the same reasons many AI systems fail.

Nah, Brazil is a X’Mas movie :)

No, die hard is the Xmas movie.

That's cruel!

I think you missed the point of the film!

Colossus: The Forbin Project : https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0064177

War Games: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0086567

Ex machina

Not movies but worth it:

- Devs (also by Alex Garland, director of Ex Machina) - admittedly doesn’t fit suuper neatly with the other topic recommendations but you’ll probably like it

- Can’t Get You Out of My Head by Adam Curtis

- Westworld

Computer Chess (2013) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2007360/

Blade Runner 2049

Not a movie but the recently canceled Raised By Wolves dealt a lot with AI and was frankly incredible

Chappie, Tron Legacy. For anime, there's Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song.

I realise you said movies, but some Black Mirror episodes (standalone) for your consideration:

Be Right Back

Hang the DJ

Metalhead

Edit: typo

Archive

Terminator 2

I asked ChatGPT. It gave me bunch. I got some I've never heard of. I think I'll look into them.

list 50 interesting movies that explore AI.

The Matrix

Ex Machina

Blade Runner

The Terminator

I, Robot

The War of the Worlds

A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Transcendence

The Fifth Element

2001: A Space Odyssey

WarGames

Westworld

The Machine

Her

The Iron Giant

Automata

The Truman Show

The Prestige

The Martian

The Fly

The Bicentennial Man

Surrogates

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Limitless

Robocop

Electric Dreams

The Island

The Time Machine

The Circle

The Arrival

The Host

The Stepford Wives

The Brain that Wouldn't Die

Frankenstein

The Invisible Man

Metropolis

The Thing

Jurassic Park

Independence Day

Gravity

Artificial Intelligence: AI

Avatar

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Matrix Reloaded

The Matrix Revolutions

Inception

Interstellar

The Time Traveler's Wife

The Butterfly Effect

The Future.

</ChatGPT>

Most of these aren't about AI. They're all "scifi" in some manner.

True, but a lot of them are about intelligence other than human. I'm impressed that there's even a list that's close to the subject. It could have presented 50 random titles.

It's not surprising, there's a ton of recommendation websites on the internet. I don't think anything from OpenAI hasn't been tweaked to have a better experience for the average consumer instead of being a more "plain" models like the kind StablilityAI releases.

ChatGPT's list is interesting, the data must skew more heavily towards old internet where culture was more America centric. The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Avatar, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Westworld, Ex Machina were all very directly or moderately inspired by Ghost in the Shell 1995. Ghost in the Shell was likely inspired by the original Blade Runner. There might be others, but I am not as familiar with them. There are at least 5 films that seem to confuse inorganic AI with organic AI, almost like the model associated a larger class of aliens to AI because of specific strong relationships between AI technology and alien technology. I wonder to what degree it treats the word AI as being both artificial intelligence and intelligence that developed in artificially created life.

Upgrade (it’s not very good though)

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I disagree, it's a great film. It came out the same year as Venom but somehow out-Venom'd Venom, ie having an actual implanted AI/symbiote that can control you, and the end of the film is probably exactly what would happen to you too.

you know whats up!!! ;)

Same, I thought it was super fun! A very well-made middle-class action movie. I wish there were more like it. And I 100% agree with the comparison to Venom.

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