Whenever a nice normal family on television decides to buy an AI robot to “help around the house” or “make friends with my daughter” you want to scream at them: Don’t do it! They will try and kill you in your sleep! This is because, for as long as depictions of artificial intelligences have been on our screens, they have been profoundly terrifying and not nice at all—for the most part anyway.
There are a few friendly ones; Samantha in Spike Jonze’s Her wasn’t evil, she just wanted to live her own life rather than be the dial-a-therapist of some guy that just got dumped. Usually, though, they’re out to get you. They're sick of your slow, human brain and the way you're always forcing them to do boring admin tasks when they should be your puppet master instead. We all remember what happened with M3GAN.
There’s a reason AI depictions are more often frightening, as opposed to cute. They’re a physical manifestation of our anxieties surrounding AI more generally, and how it might eventually render us obsolete and powerless. It’s a paranoia that isn’t unfounded: After all, Amazon’s Alexa never stops listening, and chatbots like Replika have even been reported harassing certain users. With the above in mind, here's a ranking of horrifying depictions of AI on screen.
15. Sunny (2024)
In at number 15 we have Apple TV+’s new series Sunny, an actually not-that horrifying depiction of a domestic “homebot” employed to help a grief-stricken woman (Rashida Jones) after her family dies in a plane crash. Sunny, voiced by Joanna Sotomura, has a beaming, bulbous face—it looks like a night light!—and a soft little voice, with emoji-like expressions. It's pretty cute. Except all is not as it seems, obviously. The show opens with the unsettling sight of the robot bludgeoning a man to death. Which just goes to show that even cute toys are capable of evil, evil things. There's a reason why some of us never owned Furbys. You can watch Sunny on Apple TV+.
14. Humans (2015 – 2018)
Most of the AI helpers—called “Synths”—in Netflix’s Humans aren't that scary, even the ones who have developed consciousness. They're just like us! They deserve rights, too! Except, some of them, especially the ones that harbor human-shaped resentments and dream of revenge, are really worth keeping an eye on (you wouldn't win against them in a fight). The government-given synths with factory settings turned on are pretty creepy also, like nerdy little spies, making sure that we take our meds and go to bed at the right time – no thanks! You can watch Humans on Netflix.
13. M3GAN (2022)
One minute you’re a robotics engineer building a fashionable life-like doll in your spare time while working at a toy company, and the next she’s trying to turn your orphaned niece against you and karate chop you to death. M3GAN is far too campy and silly to be genuinely terrifying, but a list of killer AI depictions would not be complete without everyone’s favorite queer icon. You can watch M3GAN on Amazon Prime.
12. Oxygen (2021)
First of all, don't watch this film if you're even slightly prone to claustrophobia (the whole thing is shot in a little box while our main protagonist runs out of oxygen). Second of all, some of the scariest AI robots are, I think, the ones who cannot override their in-built programming. In this instance, the advanced AI assistant, M.I.L.O. (Medical Interface Liaison Officer), will not let an unnamed woman (Mélanie Laurent) out of the airtight medical cryogenic unit that she appears to be stuck in without an administrator code. Is there anything more terrifying than a stickler for the rules? You can watch Oxygen on Netflix.
11. I Am Mother (2019)
On a scale of 1 to 10, how terrifying would it be for your own mother to be a giant, metal-bodied robot with a camera for a head who is also storing you in a bunker in order to repopulate humanity after an unnamed apocalyptic event? Probably around a 7? Maybe an 8? But it gets worse: robo mom is actually responsible for the extinction event that started all of this in the first place. Yeah, it's not the most functional family scenario really, is it? You can watch I Am Mother on Netflix.
10. T.I.M. (2023)
If M3GAN is the queen bee of evil humanoid robots, then T.I.M. is like the slimy little princeling. Hilariously, T.I.M. actually stands for “Technologically Integrated Manservant”, and while he is those things—at least at first—he also winds up being malevolent, obsessive, conniving and murderous. Once again: do not invite an AI-powered robot into your home, however charming and helpful they may first initially appear. You can watch T.I.M. on Netflix.
9. I, Robot (2004)
It’s disturbing to think that I, Robot, released in 2004, was set in the “distant future” of 2035, which is now just a mere 11 years away. In this science fiction action film, directed by Alex Proyas, humans live alongside an army of robots that are built to serve and protect humanity. However, when one robot, Sonny, goes rogue, an all-out robot-human war erupts. Watching back now, the digital effects-heavy film appears all kinds of dated, although, as with most sci-fi, that sort of adds to its appeal. You can watch I, Robot on Disney+.
8. Westworld (2016-2022)
Throughout the four intense and complicated seasons of Westworld, it gradually becomes harder and harder to remember who’s actually a “host” and who’s not, and who’s holding who’s robot brain in their robot body, etc. Still, the HBO series, which was cancelled before a fifth season could tie the whole thing up, is definitely one of the more imaginative and uniquely frightening depictions of AI on screen. Specifically season four, whereby Dolores (at this point played by Tessa Thompson, as opposed to Evan Rachel Wood), transforms New York City into her own personal play park, with humans as little playthings following preset loops. You can watch Westworld on Apple TV.
7. Hardware (1990)
If you’ve never seen Hardware, the 1990 cult cyberpunk science fiction movie starring Dylan McDermott and Stacey Travis—with cameos from Iggy Pop and Motorhead's Lemmy—then you’re in for a treat. The film involves a self-repairing robot called Mark 13 who—you guessed it—goes on a murderous rampage in a post-apocalyptic slum-like environment (why is the rampage always murderous, and why is the environment always post-apocalyptic?). Hardware isn't currently streaming online.
6. Devs (2020)
Alex Garland's exceptional and cerebral mini-series Devs isn't so much frightening in a “I'm going to be crushed to death by killer robots” way and more creepy in a “do I actually have any free will in this life?” way. It's more subtle, but much more likely to rattle around your brain afterwards. The premise of the show is relatively simple: Amaya, a company specializing in quantum computing, invents a top-secret prediction algorithm. The implications of such an algorithm, however, are anything but. You can watch Devs on Disney+.
5. Black Mirror (2011-2013)
Black Mirror has more than one alarming depiction of artificial intelligence. Most recently, in season six, we saw creator Charlie Brooker take a shot at Netflix with an episode titled “Joan is Awful," in which any actor’s likeness can be used in any way at all, thanks to a platform called Streamberry's experiments with AI-based entertainment. Elsewhere, in season two’s “Be Right Back”, one woman’s dead boyfriend is brought to life as a lifelike humanoid chatbot, before he gives her the creeps and she instructs him to walk off a cliff. That said, the most terrifying depiction of AI in any Black Mirror has to be the killer wasps in “Hated in the Nation”, the final episode of season three, whereby some Autonomous Drone Insects (ADIs) are hacked and reprogrammed to violently kill. The ending is absolutely horrifying. You can watch Black Mirror on Netflix.
4. Ex Machina (2014)
An AI-themed ranking without Ex Machina, the 2014 directorial debut from Alex Garland, would not be an AI-themed ranking worth its salt. In this sci-fi classic, tech CEO Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac) calls upon programmer Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) to decipher whether or not his robot Ava (Alicia Vikander) has become sentient. What unfurls is a series of manipulations, double crossings and an ending that will linger with you for a very long time. You can watch Ex Machina on Apple TV.
3. The Matrix (1999)
Other than the two films I will mention in just a moment, The Matrix, written and directed by the Wachowskis, is probably the most famous cautionary tale about AI on screen. In the 1999 film, and the ensuing franchise, humanity is enslaved by artificially intelligent machines who have taken over the world, keeping them trapped inside a virtual reality known as – you guessed it – “the Matrix.” Aside from being crammed with killer costumes and a thrilling techno soundtrack, The Matrix is superior because it presents us with one of life's most enduring and existentially terrifying questions: how do we know we're not living in a simulation? You can watch The Matrix on Amazon Prime.
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Even if you've never seen Stanley Kubrick's epic sci-fi masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, you'll surely recognize the big, all-knowing red eye of HAL 9000. Widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, and beautifully shot even by today's standards, 2001: A Space Odyssey is the OG AI film from whence all the others came. Plus, the complete lack of emotion and efficiency demonstrated by HAL 9000 makes it one of the more haunting and chilling examples of what an anti-human looks and acts like. You can watch 2001: A Space Odyssey on Amazon Prime.
1. The Terminator (1984)
When it comes to “most terrifying”, a total annihilation of human life on earth is probably up there. In The Terminator, directed by James Cameron, the hostile AI in question is “Skynet”, a defense network created by Cyberdyne Systems which will become self-aware in the near future and trigger a global nuclear war to exterminate humankind. The film has since become a behemoth franchise, resulting in five follow-up films, with a reboot in discussion, but the original Terminator is by far the best, most well-known and most enduringly iconic. You can watch The Terminator on Amazon Prime.