Social Distancing: 14 Artificial Intelligence movies for your weekend
To protect ourselves and society in times of Corona social distancing and staying home should be the first choice.
That doesn’t mean your weekend is going to be boring: We have put together our top films, series and documentaries, in which artificial intelligence plays the leading role.
Stay healthy and have fun watching.
Chappie (2015)
Short summary: A police robot is stolen and reprogrammed by criminals
Plot: A police robot (Agent 22) is badly damaged when two rival criminal gangs meet. Its creator recommends disassembling and recycling the police droid. However, Agent 22 is filled with new life and emotions after a group of criminals kidnaps the creator and forces him to modify the machine. Now that he has emotions, a name and the ability to choose between right and wrong, what path will Chappie take?
Short summary: A researcher develops omniscient artificial intelligence and merges with it to form a deadly threat.
Plot: Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is the leading researcher in the field of artificial intelligence and is working on the creation of a feeling machine that combines the entire intelligence of everything ever known with the entire range of human emotions. In a terrorist attack by anti-technology extremists, Will is killed and his wife fuses his brain with that of the computer to save him. The experiment has unexpected consequences, as Will can expand his power indefinitely and becomes a deadly threat.
In one sentence: In an attempt to create perfect android killing machines in a war against China, British scientists are exceeding their goal and developing a sentient robot.
Plot: Two AI engineers come together as they work to create the first self-aware artificial intelligence. A veteran AI engineer secretly hopes to develop a technology that will help his sick daughter, even if it means that the funding will come from the powerful Ministry of Defense. His new partner, a young AI expert, is hired after her breakthroughs are recognized by the Defense Department. Things go wrong when the Ministry of Defense takes over the work of the researchers and takes them to the next level.
In one sentence: A young programmer is selected to participate in a groundbreaking experiment that will evaluate the human characteristics of a highly sophisticated human AI.
Plot: A junior programmer working for a Google-like company wins the company lottery. The prize: a week’s stay at the CEO’s estate. Once there, he discovers that his boss is working on androids with superior artificial intelligence. The programmer’s job is to test how “human” the android is. What develops is a manipulative game between the android and the programmer.
Genre: Feature film
Short summary: A documentary about the relations between humans and artificial intelligence in the future and present.
Plot: Artificial intelligence and human-like robots are already existing in our present. The question is how robots with artificial intelligence will interact with humans in the future. The documentary shows the story of an elderly woman in Tokyo and an American who makes a road trip through California with a robot partner.
Genre: Documentary
WALL-E (2008)
Short summary In the distant future, a small garbage collecting robot accidentally sets off on a space journey that will decide the fate of mankind.
Plot: WALL-E is the last robot that has remained on earth. He spends his days cleaning up the planet – one piece of garbage after another. In the course of 700 years WALL-E has developed a personality and is more than just lonely. When he discoversthe probe EVE, which is sent back to Earth on a scanning mission, his greatest adventure begins.
In one sentence: In the near future, a lonely writer develops a surreal relationship with an artificial intelligence that satisfies all his needs.
Plot: Theodore is a lonely man in the final stages of his divorce. He decides to buy the new OS1, which is advertised as the first AI operating system in the world. Theodore is quickly attracted to the OS1 voice Samantha and falls in love with her. For the first time Theodore feels emotionally understood. When human emotions meet artificially created emotional worlds, inner conflict is inevitable.
Short summary: After discovering a mysterious artifact buried under the surface of the moon, mankind uses the intelligent supercomputer to search for its origins.
Plot: Sometime in the distant past, someone or something initiated evolution by placing a monolith on Earth (probably elsewhere in the entire universe). This allowed mankind to reach the lunar surface where another monolith is found. Now a race between computers and humans begins to reach the monoliths. The winner will take the next step in evolution, whatever that may be.
Short summary: In 2035, an anti-technology policeman is investigating a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot, leading to a greater threat to humanity.
Action: It is the year 2035. Robots are everyday objects and programmed to live next to people. Detective Del Spooner is called to investigate the apparent suicide of the scientist behind these robots, Dr. Alfred Lanning to investigate. Spooner suspects that death may not have been suicide, but was committed by one of the robots. All robots are programmed by three laws. Spooner starts to wonder if robots actually feel emotions and can possibly kill them.
Artificial Intelligence and the transformation of our everyday life (1&2) (2019)
The following documentary by the German public broadcaster NDR is unfortunately only available in German. But maybe you feel like improving your language skills?
Short summary: The world is changing. Developments in the field of artificial intelligence open up new opportunities.
Plot: Digitization and thus artificial intelligence has long since arrived in our everyday lives. But how will we deal with AI and how do the algorithms come to their results? What are the dangers of AI? These are just some of the aspects the documentary tries to answer.
Short summary: In a parallel world, the latest must-have for families is a ‘synth’ – a highly developed robotic servant who is so similar to humans that he changes our way of life.
Plot: HUMANS takes place in a parallel present, in which the latest must-have gadget is a synth for every busy family. A sophisticated robotic servant who is incredibly similar to his living counterpart. Hoping to change their way of life, a strained suburban family buys a synth. However, you will soon find out that sharing life with a machine has terrifying consequences.
Short summary: “Black Mirror” reveals how modern technologies can backfire and be used against their creators, with each episode playing in a slightly different reality, in which different characters fight against different types of technologies.
Plot: In the past ten years, technology has changed almost every aspect of our lives. In every house, on every desk, in every palm – a plasma screen, a monitor, a smartphone – a black mirror of our existence. Black Mirror is a contemporary story that touches on the collective discomfort in our modern world.
Short summary: A family that is about to divorce becomes the owner of a highly intelligent robot that is sought by a company, murder investigators and terrorists.
Plot: In 2029, robots have become an ordinary part of everyday life. They help raise children, work as chauffeurs, security guards and enthusiasts. For most people, “bots” are just soulless machines that do routine work – but they are also capable of emotions. A group of rebels reject life with the bots and are ready to shed human blood in their war against the machines.
Steven Spielberg’s moving masterpiece is more than just a modern adaptation of the Pinocchio. The film impressively negotiates the question of what makes us human. The plot focuses on 11-year-old David – the first robot with the ability to feel emotions. Abandoned by his human adoptive parents, he searches for his roots.