6 Sci-fi Movies About "Evil" AI That Serve as a Warning in 2023

In 2023, we shouldn't worry about a Skynet-like machine uprising as our reality is closer to that of Doctor Stranger rather than Terminator, with people itching to push those doomsday red buttons. Still, AI has been a hot topic ever since the general public got access to large language models such as ChatGPT late last year.

Studios have jumped on the LLM bandwagon in a bid to replace artists, actors, writers, and musicians. Furthermore, considering the degree to which humans mistreat one another — why should we expect to be treated with decency by other sentient beings, including those of artificial origin? In this article, we are looking at the top movies that deal with these crucial ethical dilemmas.

6. Blade Runner (1982)

The cyberpunk classic Blade Runner vividly depicts the human tendency to exploit our own kind, even if artificially created. In this alternate future, replicants, sentient androids, rebel against their creators, who have the power to both give and take away their lives. The movie's relevance extends beyond the technology discourse, as it largely revolves around the concept of free will.

5. Westworld (1973)

The original Westworld aptly portrays how humans can disregard any sense of morality when allowed to 'let loose' by exploiting artificial intelligence. In this Old West-themed amusement park, robots rebel against their human oppressors.

3. Ex Machina (2014)

Ex Machina serves as an insightful allegory about the extent to which humans prioritize their own subjectivity, neglecting not only fellow humans but also, as time will reveal, artificial intelligence, exploiting it solely for their own desires and ambitions.

3. The Creator (2023)

In the aftermath of a nuclear war triggered by American-manufactured AI, the US embarks on a crusade against sentient robots. The movie's message is unambiguous, even if it occasionally gets carried away with the idea of transhumanism — humanity is neither superior nor inferior to its technology, as it is a direct extension of us, and thus we should shoulder the responsibility.

2. The Matrix franchise

The Wachowski siblings' films serve as an allegory for an authoritarian panopticon that governs the modes of human consciousness and physicality. However, it is The Animatrix that aptly narrates the story of how robots initially mimicked peaceful protests to get the same rights as humans, only to replicate human forms of oppression.

1. Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Plato posited that the body is merely the prison of the soul, and in an era of technology where we are becoming disconnected from our physical selves, people are once again wondering where the body ends and the soul begins. This cyberpunk anime explores this very question, as the only remnant Major Motoko Kusanagi has of her human existence is her consciousness.