From classic sci-fi to cutting-edge cinema, this panel unpacked how artificial intelligence is imagined on screen – and what those stories reveal about us. Our panel of experts – Cat Sparks, Clem Bastow and James Harland – explored everything from AI ethics and robotics to utopian dreams and dystopian fears. With references spanning Star Trek, Her, Blade Runner and beyond, this ACMI conversation tackled the blurred lines between human and machine, and what it means when our creations start to think, feel – or rebel.
0:00 Introduction
02:30 How films influence our perspectives on AI
04:13 Ray Kurzweil’s 3 AI future possibilities
05:14 Frankenstein – the first sci fi novel
07:42 AI is not going to be like us
10:18 Data from Star Trek
11:19 The four Ds of AI: jobs that are dirty, dull, dangerous and difficult
12:33 Isaac Asimov’s 3 laws of robotics and ethics
15:26 The Creator and different AI classes
17:44 Human-shaped robots and slavery
19:22 The Day the Earth Stood Still
21:55 The Golden Age of Sci Fi (1930s–60s), Future Shocks (1970s) and Cyberpunk (1980s)
25:48 Questions for Roy Batty – an AI guest panellist
29:50 Is art the height of human intelligence?
33:32 David the AI from Prometheus
34:08 The Alien series and human-robot relationships
38:47 What is a robot and what is a human?
40:23 More questions for Roy Batty
42:04 AI overlords – Colossus: The Forbin Project
47:34 Explainable AI
48:42 Q&A: Autonomous Cars
51:09 Q&A: Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics
53:44 Q&A: Why are we drawn to utopian views of AI?