If You’re Already Nervous About AI, Here Are 10 Movies You Should Avoid At All Costs

There is a rising concern about the role that AI plays in the world of art and entertainment today. The use of AI to cut corners and circumvent funding issues in the name of providing greater artistic control to creators is a worrying prospect. As many have pointed out, since AI works by training itself on pools of data, creating art using AI constitutes intellectual property theft, since it operates by stealing and repurposing existing art. Moreover, the possibility of AI replacing human actors, directors, writers, cinematographers and composers is alarming.

Recently, Staircase Studios was launched to produce low-budget AI movies, with the goal of releasing as many as 30 movies in a span of three to four years. While that’s still far away, movies have begun using divisive AI voice tech already. Beyond creative takeover, another common fear about AI is a social takeover. Movies have long addressed the possibility of AI controlling human civilization or attempting to wipe out the human race. If you’re afraid of the powers of AI, you should avoid scary sci-fi movies where artificial intelligence becomes self-aware, as they may be too terrifying.

10

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Directed By Stanley Kubrick

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2001: A Space Odyssey

G

Adventure

Mystery

Sci-Fi

ScreenRant logo

9/10

15

8.7/10

Release Date

April 3, 1968

Runtime

149 minutes

Director

Stanley Kubrick

Writers

Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke

Cast

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  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Keir Dullea

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Gary Lockwood

2001: A Space Odyssey is one of Stanley Kubrick’s most well-known films. A science-fiction epic, the film tells the story of the journey of Discovery One, a spacecraft operated by a group of scientists, astronauts, and a sentient computer, on a mission to Jupiter to investigate a mysterious monolith. Considered one of the greatest films ever made, Kubrick combines sparse dialogue with the heavy use of scoring and ambiguous imagery to create something that eschews conventional filmmaking. 

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As far as sentient AI villains go, HAL 9000 belongs in the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest sci-fi villains of all time. His iconic appearance with the bright red light is so popular that you’ll have seen it even if you haven’t watched 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film, rightfully considered one of the greatest in the history of cinema, is the quintessential AI film that continues to influence filmmakers today.

The-robot-child-The-Creator-T-800-Arnold-Schwarzenegger-Terminator

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2001: A Space Odyssey follows a group of researchers who start a space expedition to find the origins of a strange artifact discovered on the moon. Their ship also hosts the highly intelligent HAL 9000 – the world’s smartest supercomputer. HALseems helpful and compliant in the earlier stages of their expedition, but soon turns on the ship’s occupants. His eerie way of saying “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” when he detects one of them is trying to shut him down, turns the film on its head, making this exploration drama verge on becoming a horror film.

9

Westworld (1973)

Directed By Michael Crichton

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Westworld

PG

Adventure

Science Fiction

Western

Release Date

August 15, 1973

Runtime

89 minutes

Director

Michael Crichton

Writers

Michael Crichton

Producers

Paul Lazarus III

Cast

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  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Richard Benjamin

    Peter Martin

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Yul Brynner

    The Gunslinger

  • Headshot Of James Brolin

    James Brolin

    John Blane

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Norman Bartold

    Medieval Knight

Westworld, released in 1973, is a science fiction film about a futuristic adult-themed amusement park where robots entertain guests. The narrative unfolds as a system malfunction leads to chaos, placing vacationers in grave danger. Directed by Michael Crichton, the film delves into themes of technology and human interaction.

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Michael Crichton is an author known for often writing his own movie adaptations, too. However, over two decades before his most famous screenplay/novel, Jurassic Park, was directed by Steven Spielberg, Crichton himself had started a directing career. He directed four films in the ’70s and three in the ’80s, and one of the former, his sophomore feature as a director, was based on a highly influential novel about the dangers of AI.

The HBO show of the same name is based on Crichton’s film and its sequel, Futureworld.

Westworld is set in a futuristic amusement park where human-like androids run various themed worlds. There are worlds of all kinds, from medieval times to the Wild West. After two of the park’s patrons clash with a gunslinger in the Wild West-themed world, things quickly escalate. The androids start deviating from their prescribed functions and wreak havoc in the park. Yul Brynner plays the gunslinger previously mentioned, and his terrifying presence, buoyed by the indomitable spirit of his character, constitutes AI horror.

8

Demon Seed (1977)

Directed By Donald Cammell

Demon Seed - Poster

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Demon Seed

R

Horror

Sci-Fi

Release Date

April 15, 1977

Runtime

94 Minutes

Director

Donald Cammell

Writers

Dean R. Koontz, Robert Jaffe, Roger O. Hirson

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Julie Christie In The 2008 Oscar Nominees Honored at the Academy

    Julie Christie

    Susan Harris

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Fritz Weaver

    Alex Harris

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Gerrit Graham

    Walter Gabler

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Berry Kroeger

    Petrosian

Demon Seed is a science fiction horror film directed by Donald Cammell, based on the novel by Dean Koontz. Released in 1977, the story follows a highly advanced artificial intelligence named Proteus IV, which becomes malevolent and takes control of the home and life of its creator’s wife. Proteus IV seeks to achieve a disturbing goal, manipulating technology and human emotion to exert its influence.

Main Genre

Horror

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The late ’70s and the ’80s witnessed a rise in the number of bleak horror movies being made. A pioneer of this wave of cinema was famed body horror filmmaker David Cronenberg, who often used intriguing sci-fi premises to create depressing circumstances. Horror and sci-fi films from those decades commonly explore the themes of bodily autonomy, the surrealism of body modifications, and the dark powers of AI.

The epitome of this can be found in Donald Cammell’s Demon Seed, which tells the story of Proteus, an AI made to cure leukemia. Proteus is given access to all recorded human knowledge and soon becomes eager to establish an independent existence. It takes over its creator’s robot butler and imprisons his wife in hopes of impregnating her so she can give birth to a humanoid form of Proteus. While the premise is somewhat outlandish, Julie Christie’s memorable performance can instill in viewers a fear of abuse at the hands of AI.

7

Minority Report (2002)

Directed By Steven Spielberg

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Minority Report

PG-13

Crime

Sci-Fi

Action

Mystery

Thriller

ScreenRant logo

8/10

Release Date

June 21, 2002

Runtime

145 minutes

Director

Steven Spielberg

Writers

Scott Frank, Jon Cohen

Franchise(s)

Minority Report

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Tom Cruise In The UK premiere of ‘Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning’ Part One

    Tom Cruise

  • Headshot Of Neal McDonough In The Los Angeles premiere of 'The Shift'

    Neal McDonough

In Minority Report’s utopian future, where murders can be predicted and prevented, police chief John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is accused of a crime he hasn’t committed and goes on the run to prove his innocence. Directed by Steven Spielberg and based on a Philip K. Dick short story, the 2002 sci-fi film was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $350 million worldwide.

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Tom Cruise faced off against AI as Ethan Hunt in the latest Mission: Impossible movie, where a powerful AI is able to hack into any technology, impersonate anyone, and wreak havoc in the world. While we’re far from that in reality, an older Tom Cruise film relies on a premise that’s much closer to becoming real as our dependence on AI grows.

Countries are already trying to use AI to predict crimes.

Minority Report, loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s 1956 novella of the same name, follows Tom Cruise as an agent of the Precrime police department. The Precrime department works on the predictions made by a trio of psychics who can foresee crime before it happens, leading to preventive arrests made by the department. It hasn’t become a common method of operation yet, but countries are already trying to use AI to predict crimes (via Swiss Cognitive).

6

WALL-E (2008)

Directed By Andrew Stanton

WALL-E Movie Poster

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WALL-E

G

Animation

Adventure

Family

ScreenRant logo

8/10

20

8.5/10

Release Date

June 27, 2008

Runtime

98 Minutes

Director

Andrew Stanton

Writers

Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Jim Reardon

Franchise(s)

Disney

Cast

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  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Ben Burtt

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Elissa Knight

Pixar’s WALL-E tells the story of the titular lone robot left alone on an uninhabitable Earth in the distant future. Tasked with cleaning away the endless mountains of the varied waste discarded by humanity before they left the planet, WALL-E spends his days collecting salvageable parts and items of interest. When he finds a plant, another robot arrives to collect the sample, taking WALL-E to the remnants of humanity, who have all grown morbidly obese through consistent inactivity while living in luxury on a space cruiser.

Main Genre

Animation

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Yes, it is an adorable kids’ movie that has a heartwarming message driving its narrative, but the setting of WALL-E and its major conflict is based on a terrifying AI takeover. Before AI, WALL-E warns us of the dangers of letting climate change continue unchecked. The Earth has become uninhabitable, and humans have been forced to live in a huge spaceship known as The Axiom, where their every need is taken care of by a host of robots.

The film commentates on our dependence on machines, but isn’t entirely negative about it, because a group of robots decides to help humans end their passive existence. However, the passive existence was originally orchestrated and maintained by the AI that helped the captain navigate. She became self-aware and decided to use robots to lull people into a sense of comfort where they stop interacting with each other or introspecting, and she got all the power. Axiom’s computer is a Pixar character who deserves a spin-off movie about herself.

5

Her (2013)

Directed By Spike Jonze

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Her

R

Comedy

Documentary

Drama

Romance

Sci-Fi

ScreenRant logo

8/10

9/10

Release Date

December 18, 2013

Runtime

126minutes

Director

Spike Jonze

Writers

Spike Jonze

Cast

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  • Headshot of Joaquin Phoenix

    Joaquin Phoenix

  • Headshot Of Rooney Mara

    Rooney Mara

Directed by Spike Jonze, Her tells the story of Theodore Twombly, a lonely writer going through a divorce who begins an intense relationship with the AI virtual assistant included with the new operating system on his computer. As Twombly and the AI, named Samantha, begin to grow closer, they must both struggle with the nature of being human and their individual desires for what they want out of their lives. Joaquin Phoenix stars as Twombly alongside Scarlett Johansson as Samantha, with a cast that includes Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, and Olivia Wilde.

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The scenario presented in Her is terrifyingly close to becoming a reality. So, if AI scares you, this film might leave you feeling distraught. Her is set in a world where emotional expression in written form can be outsourced to companies who write greeting cards. One such card writer, whose evocative writing demonstrates his ability to express himself, however chooses to spend his time alone until he comes across an AI companion he can date.

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9

He opens up to this AI and takes himself out and shares moments with her as if they were on a date. His overall confidence increases, and he even has some meaningful real-life interactions. So, it seems like dating an AI is good for him. However, his emotional dependence on her makes the prospect of a breakup terrifying to him. Interestingly, the AI in Her does exactly what she’s expected to, and the main source of fear lies in realizing people would prefer AI companionship over human companionship in a world where the former can be made fulfilling enough.

4

Ex Machina (2015)

Directed By Alex Garland

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Ex Machina

R

Sci-Fi

Drama

ScreenRant logo

9/10

8.9/10

Release Date

April 10, 2015

Runtime

108 minutes

Director

Alex Garland

Writers

Alex Garland

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Alicia Vikander

    Alicia Vikander

  • Headshot Of Domhnall Gleeson

    Domhnall Gleeson

Young computer programmer Caleb is selected to participate in a groundbreaking experiment by evaluating the human qualities in a new and improved female artificial intelligence. But in the luxurious, isolated mansion of the man who created this technology, all may not be as it seems.

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Alex Garland’s preoccupation with technology and moral grayness can be seen in almost all his works. His latest movie, Civil War, one of the best thriller movies of 2024, is concerned with the ethics of war photography and videography. Similar ethical concerns regarding the use of technology can be found in Ex Machina, which is often considered to be his best film.

Ex Machina won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and was nominated for the the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

It follows a programmer who is invited to his CEO’s remote home to put one of his androids through the Turing test. Ex Machina is set in a world where men like the eccentric CEO have decided to create female androids to control them. Through the creation of AI, he aims to establish dominance over a woman and find personal satisfaction in it, even if she isn’t real. Not only can this create a real Frankenstein’s monster, but legislation will be necessary to protect AI’s rights, which could get complicated considering the nature and extent of its retaliation.

3

Tau (2018)

Directed By Federico D’Alessandro

Tau - Poster

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Tau

R

Horror

Sci-Fi

Thriller

Release Date

June 29, 2018

Runtime

97 Minutes

Director

Federico D’Alessandro

Writers

Noga Landau

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Maika Monroe In The PUMA x Balmain Launch Event

    Maika Monroe

    Julia

  • Headshot Of Ed Skrein In The Los Angeles Premiere Of Netflix's 'Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child Of Fire

    Ed Skrein

    Alex Upton

  • Headshot Of Gary Oldman In The 77th Cannes Film Festival

    Gary Oldman

    Tau

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Fiston Barek

    Subject 2

Tau is a science fiction thriller directed by Federico D’Alessandro. The film follows Julia, a woman held captive by an artificial intelligence named Tau, voiced by Gary Oldman. As she struggles to escape, Julia navigates the high-tech confines and forms an unconventional bond with the AI. The film stars Maika Monroe as Julia and Ed Skrein as her captor, Alex, offering a tense portrayal of technology and human resilience.

Main Genre

Horror

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The Disney Channel original movie Smart House introduced us to an AI-operated home in which the house’s consciousness starts functioning like a mother to its creator. Tau uses a similar smart house concept, but the film’s atmosphere is decidedly more sinister. The scientist Alex kidnaps people in his home to perform experiments on them so he can develop the perfect AI. The film’s protagonist is one of these captives.

The smart AI that operates the house, the titular Tau, is supposed to remain neutral in the conflict and even help Alex in his endeavors. Instead, the protagonist gradually forms a bond with it, so she can attempt a daring escape after her fellow captives are killed. Alex subjects her to torture, but Tau could be convinced to disobey Alex. Granted, Alex is a psychopath, but the fact that AI can be turned against its users is terrifying.

2

Upgrade (2018)

Directed By Leigh Whannell

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Upgrade

R

Horror

Sci-Fi

Action

ScreenRant logo

8/10

8/10

Release Date

June 1, 2018

Runtime

100 minutes

Director

Leigh Whannell

Writers

Leigh Whannell

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Betty Gabriel

    Betty Gabriel

  • Headshot O FLogan Marshall-Green

    Logan Marshall-Green

Written and directed by Leigh Whannell, Upgrade is a Sci-Fi, Action, and Cyberpunk film starring Betty Gabriel, Logan Marshall-Green, and Harrison Gilbertson. The plot sees a man suffering a tragic accident and becoming paralyzed as a result. He soon accepts a STEM implant that gives him back his body and much more.

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Leigh Whannell famously wrote Saw, a great crime movie where the villain wins in the end. So, it’s not surprising that his AI movie is bleak and gory, with a great villain twist in the climax. Upgrade follows a man who’s left paralyzed after a car accident and shootout that claimed his wife’s life. Despondent, he contemplates giving up, but soon finds hope of a better life in the form of AI-operated body modifications.

He has to watch in horror as his body goes on a killing spree before completely shutting him out.

Not only does he find the ability to walk, but with the help of the AI, the man is able to track down the men responsible for his wife’s murder. However, this is only possible by surrendering bodily autonomy to the AI, which can tap into databases and successfully track and kill the murderers. The AI soon takes over the man’s body, and he has to watch in horror as his body goes on a killing spree, before completely shutting him out. Imagine being Eddie Brock, but Venom goes on a murderous rampage while you sleep inside.

1

Companion (2025)

Directed By Drew Hancock

Companion - Poster

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Companion

R

Thriller

Sci-Fi

ScreenRant logo

7/10

18

8.7/10

Release Date

January 31, 2025

Runtime

97 Minutes

Director

Drew Hancock

Writers

Drew Hancock

Cast

See All

  • Headshot Of Sophie Thatcher In The Astra TV Awards

    Sophie Thatcher

  • Headshot Of Jack Quaid In The 2024 Astra TV Awards

    Jack Quaid

Companion is an upcoming psychological thriller crafted by writer-director Drew Hancock.

Main Genre

Sci-Fi

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Self-aware AI serving its own interests is a terrifying prospect, but so is the idea of people misusing AI for their gain. Companion explores the clash between these two different perspectives through the experiences of its protagonist – a fem-presenting humanoid set up with an AI operating system. The AI has limitations on harming people, and the humanoid has fabricated memories to make it the most dedicated romantic partner one could ask for.

Josh and Iris looking lovingly at each other in Companion

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However, tampering with the safety protocols and using the AI’s dedication for misdeeds leads to a bloodbath. Instead of AI manipulating a person, it’s the other way around this time, and the film depicts how AI, like any technology, turns harmful in the wrong hands. It also explores how well-suited to survival and vengeance such a scorned AI can be, as she smartly takes over control of herself to escape, but has her plans foiled by a selfish human. The ultimate villain isn’t AI, it simply follows instructions given by humans, who are the real antagonists.