AI on the Criterion Channel

July 1, 2023

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At a moment when artificial intelligence is moving from the realm of science fiction into everyday life, we look back across fifty years of cinema history—from 1970s paranoia (Demon Seed) to 1990s cyberpunk (Ghost in the Shell, Johnny Mnemonic) and post-Y2K visions of our inescapably digital new millennium (A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Her, After Yang)—to see how this brave new world has been envisioned, in all its wonder and dread. The uncanny concept of AI has inspired some of the most dazzlingly imaginative films ever made, stoking philosophical questions about the possibilities and perils of technology, the relationship between the mechanical and the biological, and the very essence of what makes us human.

FEATURES: Dark Star (1974), Zardoz (1974), Demon Seed (1977), Electric Dreams (1984), Making Mr. Right (1987), Ghost in the Shell (1995), Johnny Mnemonic (1995)*, A.I.Artificial Intelligence (2001), Teknolust (2002), 2046 (2004), Computer Chess (2013), Her (2013), After Yang (2021)*, Life After BOB: The Chalice Study (2021)

SHORTS: All Is Full of Love (Björk music video) (1999), Ennui ennui (2013), Os humores artificiais (2016)

By JB