These Robot Movies Will Make You Question Your Humanity

The best science-fiction movies build an entire world using the fantasies, fears, and fascinations of the present. In some sci-fi films, environmental damage finally manifests in a grim reality; in others, our dreams of reaching the stars land right on our laps, in gruesome alien form.

And then, there’s the ultimate sci-fi symbol: robots, androids, and every other species of Human 2.0. If a film includes a robot, the movie is bound to examine humanity’s relationship to technology, both our starry-eyed yearnings for progress, and our fear of what progress may entail.

Each of these films handles AI differently. In the Star Wars universe, robots are slaves to humanity, and are smart enough to know it. As C-3PO begs, “It wasn't my fault, sir, please don't deactivate me!" In Ex Machina, robots are superior to humans. One character eschews all human company in favor for his set of robotic lovers. All of these stories are thought-provoking, exhilarating, and will make you pay attention to talk of automation in the news just a bit more.

Here are Hollywood’s most brilliant conceptions of this superior technology.