Skip to content
1981
The Human and the Machine: AI Hopes and Fears in Media & Society
  • ISSN: 1757-2681
  • E-ISSN: 1757-269X
file format pdf download PDF

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) has had a significant historical representation within popular culture over the decades, used in storytelling for films, television programmes, books and video games. Films like (1982), (2017), (1999), (1984), (2014) and (2002), for example, can all be used to explore the impacts of AI on society. These stories exploring AI often centre around the environmental and social impact of advanced technology, including the perceived threat to humans, as well as the ethical considerations that this technology generates. Much of the same issues presented within films are also found in science fiction novels, by the likes of such authors as Isaac Asimov, William Gibson and, of course, Arthur C. Clarke who famously wrote in 1964 that ‘the most intelligent inhabitants of the future world won’t be men or monkeys, they will be machines’. This article examines popular films that represent AI as the focus of their content, to create the vision of both innovation and the fears around such advancement in the real world. In considering the historical background of AI development, together with the ever-present threat of science creating an all-powerful and uncontrollable artificial ‘programme’, that would have the ability to dominate and control humanity, these stories within popular culture may also serve as a warning about the implications of AI developments. This article then considers the representation of AI from a communication lens and whether the so-called science fiction is now here.

© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Intellect Ltd.
This article is Open Access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND), which allows users to copy, distribute and transmit the article as long as the author is attributed, the article is not used for commercial purposes, and the work is not modified or adapted in any way. To view a copy of the licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/iscc_00067_1
2024-10-17
2026-04-13

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/iscc/13/3/iscc.13.3.307_Baker.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1386/iscc_00067_1&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. AIFastCash (2023), ‘The Matrix warned us about AI: A cautionary tale about the potential dangers of AI’, Medium, 27 April, https://generativeai.pub/the-matrix-warned-us-about-ai-9cede486c4ce. Accessed 13 September 2024.
  2. Asimov, Isaac (1950), I, Robot, New York: Gnome Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Asimov, Isaac (1957), The Naked Sun, New York: Doubleday.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Baum, S. D. (2020), Governing the AI Revolution: Policy and Ethics for Building Better Futures with Artificial Intelligence, New York: Springer.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Boden, Margaret A. (2016), AI: Its Nature and Future, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Bostrom, Nick (2002), ‘Existential risks: Analyzing human scenarios and related hazard’, Journal of Evolution and Technology, Special Issue: ‘Existential Risks: Analyzing Human Scenarios and Related Hazards’, 9, pp. 1–36, https://nickbostrom.com/existential/risks.pdf. Accessed 15 March 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Bostrom, Nick (2003), Ethical Issues in Advanced Artificial Intelligence, Oxford: Oxford University, http://www.nickbostrom.com/ethics/ai.html. Accessed 15 March 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Bostrom, Nick (2014), Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Brown, Stephanie (n.d.), ‘What is speculative fiction’, What Is Speculative Fiction?, New York: Celadon Books, https://celadonbooks.com/what-is-speculative-fiction/. Accessed 17 March 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Cameron, James (1984), The Terminator, USA: Orion Pictures.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Cave, Stephen (2020), ‘The AI spring: The future of artificial intelligence and its impact on human life’, Journal of Future Studies, 25:2, pp. 123–45.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Cave, Stephen and Dihal, Kanta (2019), ‘Hopes and fears for intelligent machines in fiction and reality’, Nature Machine Intelligence, 1, pp. 74–78, https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-019-0020-9.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Child, Ben (2019), ‘The Matrix rebooted: Do we want to go down the rabbit hole again?’, The Guardian, 8 August, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/aug/08/the-matrix-rebooted-new-film. Accessed 6 March 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Clapton, William and Shephard, Laura J. (2019), ‘Ethics Ex Machina: A popular culture and the plural futures of politics’, Australian Journal of Political Science, 54:4, pp. 531–42, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10361146.2019.1663400.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Clarke, Arthur (1964), ‘1964: Arthur C. Clarke predicts the future Horizon Past Predictions’, BBC Archive, 21 September, https://t.co/u9RpXTrztK. Accessed 24 January 2024.
  16. Dick, Philip K. (1968), Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep, New York: Doubleday.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Forbes, Bruce D. and Mahan, Jefrey H. (2017), Religion and Popular Culture in America, Oakland, CA: University of California Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Ford, Martin (2015), The Rise of the Robots: FT and McKinsey Business Book of the Year, London: Oneworld Publications.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Future of Life Institute (2024), ‘Artificial intelligence’, https://futureoflife.org/cause-area/artificial-intelligence/. Accessed 12 March 2024.
  20. Garland, Alex (2014), Ex Machina, UK: Universal Pictures.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Haenlein, Michael and Kaplan, Andreas (2019), ‘A brief history of artificial intelligence: On the past, present, and future of artificial intelligence’, California Management Review, 61:4, pp. 5–14, https://doi.org/10.1177/0008125619864925.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Harari, Yuval Noah (2017), Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, New York: HarperCollins.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Hermann, Isabella (2021), ‘Artificial intelligence in fiction: Between narratives and metaphors’, AI and Society, 38:1, pp. 319–29, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-021-01299-6.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (2023), ‘A general introduction to artificial intelligence’, Artificial Intelligence Technology, Singapore: Springer, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2879-61.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Kang, Minsoo (2011), Sublime Dreams of Living Machines: The Automaton in the European Imagination, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Kurzweil, Ray (1999), The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence, New York: Viking.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Kurzweil, Ray (2005), The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, New York: Viking.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Larson, Jerrod (2007), ‘Limited imagination: Depictions of computers in science fiction film’, Journal of Science Fiction Science Studies, 10:3, pp. 45–60.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Main, Nikki (2024), ‘New Survey reveals AI could drive humans to extinction- and top researchers say it would happen by dangerous groups engineering viruses, rulers controlling populations, or threatening economic inequality’, Daily Mail, 5 January, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12926553/ai-survey-human-death-percentage.html. Accessed 7 October 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Mori, Masahiro, MacDorman, Karl and Kageki, Norri (2012), ‘The uncanny valley [from the field]’, IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, 19:2, pp. 98–100.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Nachbar, Joh C. and Kevin, Lause (1992), Popular Culture: An Introductory Text, Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Norton, Jim (2023), ‘Godfather of AI is among hundreds of experts calling for urgent action to prevent the “potentially catastrophic” risks posed by technology’, Daily Mail, 31 October, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12693785/Godfather-AI-hundreds-experts-calling-urgent-action-prevent-potentially-catastrophic-risks-posed-technology.html. Accessed 18 March 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. O’Neill, Margo (2017), ‘Explainer: What is artificial intelligence?’, ABC News, 7 August, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-07/explainer-what-is-artificial-intelligence/8771632. Accessed 2 March 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Pfister, Wally (2014), Transcendence, USA: Warner Bros Pictures.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Schaden, Erin (2024), ‘Living on human scale…’, Medium, 28 March, https://erineschaden.medium.com/living-on-human-scale-069d06dd767d. Accessed 24 March 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Scott, Ridley (1982), Blade Runner, USA: The Ladd Company.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Shephard, Laura J. (2012), Gender, Violence and Popular Culture: Telling Stories, London and New York: Taylor & Francis, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/aut/detail.action?docID=1024526. Accessed 18 September 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Spielberg, Steven (2002), Minority Report, USA: 20th Century Fox.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Suleyman, Mustafa (2023), The Coming Wave, London: The Bodley Head.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Tegmark, Max (2017), Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, New York: Allen Lane.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Tegmark, Max (2018), Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, London: Penguin Books.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Tegmark, Max (2023), The AI Apocalypse: Managing the Future of Artificial Intelligence, London: Penguin Books.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Truitt, E. R. (2015), Medieval Robots, Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. United Nations (2023), ‘Interim report: Governing AI for humanity’, United Nations, https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/ai_advisory_body_interim_report.pdf. Accessed 13 February 2024.
  45. Villeneuve, Denis (2017), Blade Runner 2049, USA: Alcon Entertainment.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Vinge, Vinge (1993), ‘The coming technological singularity: How to survive in the post-human era’, Whole Earth Review, winter, pp. 30–43.
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Wachowskis, Lana and Wachowskis, Lily (1999), The Matrix, USA: Warner Bros. Pictures.
     [Google Scholar]
  48. Barrat, James (2013), Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era, London: Quercus Editions.
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Cave, Stephan (2012), Immortality: The Quest to Live Forever and How It Drives Civilization, New York: Crown.
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Graham, Elaine (2002), Representations of the Post/Human: Monsters, Aliens, and Other in Popular Culture, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Shadbolt, Nigel (2019), The Digital Ape, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  52. Taylor, Taylor and Dorn, Alan (2020), ‘Self-reproducing machines: The evolution of an idea’, in T. Taylor and A. Dorin (eds), Rise of the Self-Replicators, Cham: Springer, pp. 11–38.
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Tegmark, Max (2023), ‘Written statement of Dr. Max Tegmark to the AI Insight Forum’, Future of Life Institute, 24 October, https://futureoflife.org/open-letters/written-statement-of-dr-max-tegmark-to-the-ai-insight-forum/. Accessed 14 April 2024.
/content/journals/10.1386/iscc_00067_1
Loading
  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): ethical issues; existential threat; misinformation; popular culture; regulation; technological advancemenets

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test