Resources For TV Channel Developers

Artificial intelligence has gained new technological and cultural relevance in the past year, to the excitement (we assume) of some and the fear of almost anyone who’s ever seen a sci-fi movie.

Indeed, one of the primary reasons for the dual writers and actors strike is concern that studios will use AI to replace them without fair compensation.

But since long before AI became a threat to anyone in the real world, Hollywood has been grappling with how it could help us, harm us … or destroy our entire race. A common thread joining these films and TV shows is that they all explore the implications of what it means that artificial intelligence, by definition, has a mind of its own.

No matter what purpose it was created for, self-aware AI — at least at the level envisioned by sci-fi writers, which granted is miles beyond what exists in the real world — is going to make its own unpredictable decisions, and that may or may not be in the best interests of humanity.

So, while the workers of Hollywood might be worried that AI is coming for their jobs, at least they can be relieved that it’s nowhere near as dangerous as the writers’ wildest dreams … yet.

Here, we round up some of the most memorable AI in film and television, ranging from friendly helper robots to murderous destroyers of humanity.