Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Best Artificial Intelligence Fiction

The Caves of Steel trilogy of books by Isaac Asimov. The second part was The Naked Sun and the third was The Robots of Dawn. This was the classic set of sci-fi gumshoe detective stories featuring Elijah Bailey and his robot partner R. Daneel Olivaw. Lots of stuff about the Three Laws of Robotics and beyond.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: kinga, rhett7660, decafjava and 2 others
Bodhitree said:
The Caves of Steel trilogy of books by Isaac Asimov. The second part was The Naked Sun and the third was The Robots of Dawn. This was the classic set of sci-fi gumshoe detective stories featuring Elijah Bailey and his robot partner R. Daneel Olivaw. Lots of stuff about the Three Laws of Robotics and beyond.
Click to expand...

I read the first one and quite enjoyed it, haven't read book two or three yet though. Good stuff!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huntn
Surrogates (by Bruce Willis)
Fringe was quite good. Maybe not AI, but still good sci-fi?
Ex Machina (2014)
Memories Of The Alhambra (a Korean TV series at Netflix). This one refers to gamer who creates a virtual reality game where the lines between virtual & reality intertwine and become deadly to the players.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: decafjava and Huntn
We rewatched A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)- A powerful story. As all good such stories like theses, they provoke you to consider just what being a human is about, at least what are the good things about a human, when it comes to creating a machine that acts like one. This story is especially sad because David, the Mecca Boy gets a raw deal, because of a couple’s jealous son, he is set up, and because of incomplete programming, he is deemed a threat. The mother instead of turning him in where she thinks he’ll be destroyed, abandons him in the woods where he begins his search for the Blue Fairy, the one who will turn him into a real boy. Such a sad story, with arguably a happy ending. 🤔

An interesting element in this story is that on a future Earth with a shortage of resources and restrictions on reproduction, androids are considered advantageous, arguably a must.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: decafjava and EllieCat
Huntn said:
We rewatched A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)- A powerful story. As all good such stories like theses, they provoke you to consider just what being a human is about, at least what are the good things about a human, when it comes to creating a machine that acts like one. This story is especially sad because David, the Mecca Boy gets a raw deal, because of a couple’s jealous son, he is set up, and because of incomplete programming, he is deemed a threat. The mother instead of turning him in where she thinks he’ll be destroyed, abandons him in the woods where he begins his search for the Blue Fairy, the one who will turn him into a real boy. Such a sad story, with arguably a happy ending. 🤔

An interesting element in this story is that on a future Earth with a shortage of resources and restrictions on reproduction, androids are considered advantageous, arguably a must.
Click to expand...
I liked the movie when I first watched it when it came out. I rewatched it about 6 months ago and my perspective is completely different now on it. I could not view the AI as human or "real" life which in turn made it impossible for me to empathise with the character. It is a robot with programed responses, and I don't believe we are capable of actually making real life outside of having kids or working with genetics from creatures that are already alive. The movie does a great job is sort of an adult retelling of Pinocchio.
 
wonderings said:
I liked the movie when I first watched it when it came out. I rewatched it about 6 months ago and my perspective is completely different now on it. I could not view the AI as human or "real" life which in turn made it impossible for me to empathise with the character. It is a robot with programed responses, and I don't believe we are capable of actually making real life outside of having kids or working with genetics from creatures that are already alive. The movie does a great job is sort of an adult retelling of Pinocchio.
Click to expand...
I accept your view on this. :)

However, for AI one of oldest arguments is, does the machine have sentience/consciouness, and experience the world like we do or is it a toaster/computer just running its program? It can act exactly like a human might act, but are the lights really on, is there consciousness? How would we know, dealing with one? We’d have to make assumptions.

Look at human beings, we’re biological computers, are we just running our programs, reacting, wanting, happy, unhappy. Set aside the concept of soul for a moment, what creates consciousness? What is its essence? We don’t know. The idea is that at some complex level, a computer with the computational power and programming equivalent to a human brain and sensory receptors, might achieve self awareness.

So however the programming (program, objectives, senses, memory, preferences, achievements, desires) worked for David, he acted with panic as he was being abandoned, and desperately desired to be a real boy to be loved by his mother. As a human witnessing, this how could we not feel something? 🤔
 
I just watched Morgan, a 2016 film about AI. It reminded me of this thread and I thought I would share. Fun movie with a good cast. It’s currently available on Max.

A corporate risk-management consultant must decide whether or not to terminate an artificially created humanoid being.
Click to expand...

IMG_5173.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pezimak, Queen6 and Huntn
Besides the classics like Blade Runner (the first and the sequel) and all the great series like Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica I want to give a shout out to the 1995 anime film Ghost in the Shell and it's sequel Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. Exploring these themes in a world where human augmentation and AI exist. Big influence on subsequent films including the Matrix.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rhett7660 and Huntn
Huntn said:
Any thoughts about why it got such horrible reviews? Not challenging your post, just curious.
Click to expand...
I don’t know and I don’t really pay attention to reviews all that much. I found it entertaining and the premise a bit refreshing. It’s the same old “will AI turn on us story,” but there is a twist in that it focuses a lot on how the humans who develop and work with the AI become obviously biased because of their bond and affection for the AI humanoid that they helped create and raise.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huntn
Love this list! AIs in fiction are fascinating, especially when they’re just part of the world rather than the Big Bad. I’d throw in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Mike is an underrated AI character) and Murderbot Diaries (because sometimes an AI wants to binge-watch in peace). Also, Portal’s GLaDOS deserves a spot—hilarious, creepy, and tragic all at once!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huntn
Huntn said:
Any thoughts about why it got such horrible reviews? Not challenging your post, just curious.
Click to expand...
Simple answer access media game & film reviews are basically bought & paid for now and not remotely worth wasting time on. Most new releases are hyped through the roof with glowing numbers. Then the actual audience & player review's role and tell the truth of the matter.

Just look on Metacritic & Steam you will very quickly see which outlets to ignore as they are little more than schill's for failing corporations...
1742622810456.png
1742622722192.png
1742623031554.png
1742623393572.png
Similar to many film & game studios the critic's are obviously out of touch with the general public and therefore irrelevant.

Q-6
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Huntn and decafjava
Sorry if I missed a previous reference, but Pat Cadigan's 1991 novel Synners is some stone-the-crows-at-home sublime reading :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huntn
Anyone mentioned Robopocalypse yet? VERY good story all about AI, reading the first book at the moment, they are making it into a film but J J Abram’s is directing it so no doubt everything will blow up lol.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huntn and Queen6
decafjava said:
Besides the classics like Blade Runner (the first and the sequel) and all the great series like Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica I want to give a shout out to the 1995 anime film Ghost in the Shell and it's sequel Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. Exploring these themes in a world where human augmentation and AI exist. Big influence on subsequent films including the Matrix.
Click to expand...

Ghost in The Shell, even the movie (which I thought was pretty good), Anime/Manga is a great movie. One of my favorites.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Queen6 and Huntn
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back