Artificial Intelligence Goes to the Movies: American Science Fiction Cinema and Television

This course examines the complex ways in which Hollywood has imagined, and responded to, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). At the intersection of science fiction, philosophy, sociology, cybernetics, and futurology, AI has been the focus of Hollywood for a long time. These days, films devoted to the exploration into the disparity between man and machine regularly receive popular acclaim and critical praise for their thematic complexity, gripping visuals, compelling narratives, and arresting soundtracks. At a time when AI has paradoxically moved beyond being a mere thematic concern in Hollywood and the first movies made entirely with AI tools have appeared, imperiling the livelihood of performers and staff, the mission of this course is pressing. First, we examine the iconography of AI in films, including the post-human, transhuman, androids, replicants, robots, cyborgs, synthetic humans, mutants, robotic humanoids, digital humans, simulacra, bio-engineering, virtual realities, biomechanics, digital technology, autonomous existence, sentience, deep fakes, superintelligence, and uploaded consciousnesses. Second, we investigate how films and television series about AI question the human body and reflect on the dissolution of the categories of gender, sexuality, ability, and race. Third, we inquire whether films created by AI can become indistinguishable from those with human authorship and what this means for the progress of culture, human enlightenment, and social justice. Lastly, we probe how films about AI raise questions about the nature of reality, the future of consciousness (human and beyond), and what it means to be human. We examine films and television series including Frankenstein (1931), Man Made Monster (1941), The Invisible Boy (1957), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1964), Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-69), Westworld (1973), Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), Blade Runner (1982), Wargames (1983), The Terminator (1984), Robocop (1987), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), The Matrix (1999), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), I, Robot (2004), WALL-E (2008), Iron Man (2008), Person of Interest (2011-16), Her (2013), Transcendence (2014), Westworld (2016-22), Morgan (2016), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Altered Carbon (2018-20), Jexi (2019), The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021), After Yang (2021), Window Seat (2023), Eternal Recurrence (2023), The Last Artist (2024), DreadClub: Vampire's Verdict (2024), Where the Robots Grow (2024), and Companion (2025).