Rewatching Steven Spielberg’s 2001 film AI: Artificial Intelligence, it feels as plausible as ever, but also more misguided. In 2001, AI was barely a thought in everyday life. It was the thing that destroyed the world in Terminator, and still a lofty goal in tech circles. Today, as the technology continues to grow and dominate daily conversation in almost every way, you may expect to watch the film and have a slightly new perspective. Some change in insight. Instead, the film falters as Spielberg’s views on his titular technology take a backseat to a story unsure of what it wants to be. The movie’s flaws shine brighter than ever before, even as its world becomes increasingly familiar and likely. But, maybe, there is more to it than meets the (A) eye.
Based on a short story by Brian Aldiss and developed in large part from work previously done by the late Stanley Kubrick, AI is set in an undefined future after the icecaps have melted and destroyed all coastal cities. As a result, society has changed drastically, with certain resources becoming increasingly important and scarce. That’s why robots, which don’t need to eat or drink, have become so crucial. Tech companies are always looking ahead, though, and inventor Allen Hobby (William Hurt) thinks he’s figured out the next step. He hopes to create an artificially intelligent robot child who can love a parent just as a normal child would. Hobby sees true emotion as the logical next step in robotic integration into human life, and about two years later, he believes he has achieved it.
The first act of AI then follows David (Haley Joel Osment), a prototype child robot with the ability to love, as he attempts to help two parents, Monica (Frances O’Connor) and Henry (Sam Robards). Monica and Henry have a son, Martin, but he’s been in a coma for about five years. Assuming Martin will pass away, Henry is chosen to bring David home. Initially, Monica and Henry treat David very coldly, and rightfully so. He’s weird. He’s creepy. He does not act human in any way. So, when Monica decides to keep him and “imprint” on him, it feels like a bit of a shock. And this is the first of many places AI today just doesn’t quite get things right.
We learn that David can love whomever he’s programmed to imprint on, but that it’s irreversible. So, if for some reason the family doesn’t want him anymore, he has to be destroyed, not reprogrammed. Which feels like a pretty big design flaw, does it not? David’s deep-seated desire to be loved by Monica is crucial to the story, but watching it now, it feels almost silly that a company wouldn’t have the ability to wipe the circuits clean and start it again. Also, the notion that any parent would want to have a child who stays a child forever simply feels off. Isn’t the joy of parenting watching your kids grow up and discover the world? Well, David would never do that. He’d just be there, forever, making you coffee and pretending he loves you with the same, never-ending intensity.
Which is a little creepy, right? The beginning of AI has very distinct horror vibes that feel even more prominent now than they did in 2001. But, clearly, this was the intention. Spielberg wants to keep the characters and audience on their toes. After two decades of killer robot movies, though, it’s even more unmistakable and obvious. That unsettled tone makes it difficult to feel any connection to these characters, at least at the start.
Eventually, Monica and Henry’s son miraculously recovers, comes home, and develops a rivalry with David. The two clash, and, instead of returning David to the company to be destroyed, Monica leaves him in the woods. Which feels so much worse! Truly, it’s irredeemable. When an animal is sick beyond aid, the merciful thing is to let them go, not throw them in the woods where they will scream in pain forever. But that’s what Monica does to David. You hate her, you feel for him, and it’s weird.
From there, AI gets even weirder. David meets Gigolo Joe (Jude Law), an artificially intelligent sex robot who has way more emotion and humanity than the ultra-advanced David (the same goes for David’s low-tech teddy bear sidekick, Teddy, the best part of the movie). The two traverse a world that has either become disgusted with machines taking over their lives or fully embraced it. It’s an interesting dichotomy, one brought to life by wild production design such as the “Flesh Fair,” where humans watch robots be destroyed for fun, and “Rogue City,” which is basically AI Las Vegas. And yet, these scenes only touch on larger concepts of what AI means and what it has done to society. Joe delivers a monologue about humans’ distrust of technology that feels poignant and thoughtful, but then it’s largely forgotten. The ideas are there, but not crucial to what’s happening around them.
What stands out about all of this, especially from a modern viewpoint, is how Spielberg’s vision of AI is still so distant. Things in the movie are well beyond what we have today. Even with modern chatbots, self-driving cars, generative AI, and the like, everything in the movie is clearly science fiction. Artificial intelligence in Spielberg’s world isn’t special. It’s been around for so long; it’s already been monetized, exploited, embraced, and rejected. One scene, however, does ring truer now than it did in 2001. As Joe and David look for the Blue Fairy that can turn him into a real boy (more on that in a second), they go to “Dr. Know,” a store where an AI Albert Einstein, voiced by Robin Williams, can search through the entirety of human knowledge to answer any question for you. It’s basically ChatGPTat its highest form, and in this world, it’s just a cheap attraction in a strip mall.
Dr. Know is a crucial plot device in the film because it puts Joe and David back on the track of the Blue Fairy, a character from Pinocchio who turned that character into a real boy, and whom David believes is real and can do the same for him. This is another disconnect that’s hard to get your head around. We’re continuously told how advanced David is supposed to be technologically, and yet he exhibits none of that mentally. He only shows the emotions and mind of a small child. There’s never any hint that he’ll learn or develop past that. That he’ll evolve in any way. He’s the most advanced robot in the world, but can’t grasp that Pinocchio isn’t real. So, we’re left confused about what he believes, what he doesn’t, his potential, and his overall purpose.
Nevertheless, when Joe and David ask Dr. Know about how the Blue Fairy can turn him into a real boy, the program somehow understands this request and sends them on a journey to Manhattan, which has been lost under rising seas. There, David finds Hobby, his creator, and we learn Hobby and his team have been monitoring and even subtly seeding David’s adventure to get him to this place. Which feels incredibly forced on multiple levels, but also essential to the big reveal.
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