10 X-Files Fates Worse Than Death

10. Pursued By Psychotic AI

In keeping with the character of the HAL 9000 in Stanley Kubrick's landmark 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, virtually all artificial intelligence (AI) portrayed in The X-Files is psychotic. A glowing example is Eurisko's COS system in the first season episode, Ghost in the Machine, which not only controlled the company's entire building and systems, but also used the Internet to manipulate outside events, often with fatal results.

More recently, however, in the 2018 episode, Rm9sbG93ZXJz (which translates as "Followers"), after trying to enjoy a meal in an automated sushi restaurant and failing to leave a tip, both Mulder and Scully are subjected to ongoing torment by a series of gadgets, including drones, automated taxis, and cleaning robots robots, all of which contribute to destroying Scully's house, sending Mulder and Scully on the run.

Ultimately, this is a learning experience for them, as they realize that AI will treat humans in the same manner as humans treat AI. When they finally leave a tip, the various threatening AI devices finally back down.

However, the devices will surely continue to watch them...