Which Movie About AI Is The Most Accurate?
10. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (Inaccurate)
In Steven Spielberg’s film A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, David, a little boy android, is gifted as a replacement son to a family after their biological son suffers a rare disease and is put under an induced coma. David is a prototype of an AI that can feel love and give love back to his adoptive parents.
After their real son is cured and comes back to live with them, they take David out to the woods and tell him to, “Git on, now! Git, boy, git!” David then goes on a journey aided by two other AIs: a cuddly little teddy bear and a sex-worker android who is wanted for murder, naturally. David’s quest is to find the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio that he believes can turn him into a real boy.
Why It’s Inaccurate
Several films fall into the trope of AI robots wishing they can be “real.” This comes from our own self-image that humans are number one(!). We can’t help but see ourselves in other species. When your dog gets into your chair and sits upright, it’s not doing it because it wants to be like you. It’s just getting comfy. This habit of ours transfers over to our depictions of androids in film. Yo, writers of science fiction: that’s not how it’s gonna play out!
Furthermore, the idea that an AI would actually feel emotions like love or empathy is highly improbable. An android like David would be to programmed to give responses that mimic loving or empathetic emotions just to make them seem more lifelike, when really they do not feel those things at all. This is another reason why it’s just absurd that David would ache to be a real boy.