Representations of Artificial Intelligence in Popular Films: What Will the Future Look Like?

• In Event: Disturbances, Recreation, and Renovation of Labor: AI, Robots, Platforms, and Algorithms - I

Abstract

The popular media, film, cinema and television contribute to the public’s general understanding of artificial intelligence. They also reflect popular ideas and perceptions of artificial intelligence’s role in our lives and what we might expect in the future as innovation and research advances. Using a content analysis, this article examines the portrayal of artificial intelligence and robots in popular films from 1999 to 2017 to analyze common themes. The analysis of these films touches on issues regularly discussed by experts such as computer scientists, politicians, journalists and STS scholars in relation to artificial intelligence and includes: 1. The ways in which artificial intelligence will transform the nature of work and human relationships, including themes related to its impact on the labor market and our interactions with others. 2. Whether we will control machines or will they control us: including themes about the benefits versus the dangers of artificial intelligence and our ability to manage and regulate it ethically. 3. If the gendering and racialization of artificial intelligence might mitigate or exacerbate existing gender and racial inequalities and bias.

This analysis spans a period of nineteen years and contributes to the STS literature by providing a starting point for understanding the cultural meanings affiliated with artificial intelligence in the popular imagination.

Author

• Emily Blosser, The University of Louisiana at Lafayette