What’s Hollywood missing about artificial intelligence?

In 2025, artificial intelligence appears to be appearing on television almost as often as it does in real life. In the hospital satire series Saint Denis Medical, a curmudgeon doctor expresses his dissatisfaction with a patient’s unwavering trust in an artificial intelligence diagnostic tool. In the high school comedy “The English Teacher,” an idealistic teacher campaigns for “smart” garbage cans, only to discover that the new bins equipped with cameras are part of an elaborate data-collection scheme. In the Hollywood satirical film The Studio, a production company’s revelation that one of its projects would rely on artificial intelligence animation led to significant backlash.

Some shows have taken a more sympathetic approach. The Apple TV drama “Murderbot,” based on Martha Wells’ book series, attempts to see things from its titular hero’s point of view. The story takes place on a distant planet, where the titular Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård) is tasked with securing the safety of a group of scientists studying the unpredictable local fauna. While researchers argue with each other about how much dignity should be given to a robot – is it a machine or a slave? – Murderbot obeys their directions with a haughty teenage grimace and laughs to himself about the boring “exchange of words and fluids.” (He’s not wrong about their boredom, but it’s just as boring as the things he’s making fun of.) The twist is that Murderbot isn’t particularly interested in helping or Destroying the people around him. He simply prefers to waste his off-duty hours enjoying vulgar space operas. In fact, it’s his Bartleby-like stubbornness that makes him feel more human.

Unexpectedly, the 2025 series that most effectively channels contemporary concerns about artificial intelligence is a sci-fi drama set in the 22nd century, in a world where AI assistants are already obsolete. The “Alien” film series has long been known for its populist, cyberpunk-like perspective; In the original film, the main characters are interstellar merchant sailors who are deemed expendable by their employer. The new FX series “Alien: Earth” makes the evils of corporate exploitation even more apparent: Its main antagonist, an arrogant man who calls himself Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin), is a trillionaire who has no qualms about deceiving the vulnerable or endangering the planet for his own agenda.

The world of “Alien: Earth” has no functional government; After the collapse of democracy, five giant companies took over. Technological marvels do little to improve the difficult lives of most workers; Sixty-five-year employment contracts are the norm. Aliens aside, the show’s depiction of internecine battles between ruthless, self-involved rich people at the expense of almost everyone else doesn’t seem too far removed from our situation. In May, the CEO of a prominent AI company predicted that half of all entry-level management jobs will be eliminated by 2030 — even as talent wars within the field enable top researchers to command nine-figure salaries. This contradiction gave rise to ominous jokes about the impending “permanent underclass.” At the same time, various large linguistic models ingested vast swaths of data, sometimes through illegal means, and AI-generated photos and videos ushered in a terrifying new era in which people had less control than ever over their images and the likes of their loved ones. This month, the release of text-to-video app Sora 2 forced the daughters of Robin Williams and Martin Luther King Jr. to plead with the public to stop sending fake photos of their parents.

The way artificial intelligence is tearing apart relationships, institutions, and reality itself has given our current moment an air of science fiction: every day brings new reports of chatbots becoming objects of romantic obsession, pushing users toward psychotic periods, or encouraging teenagers to kill themselves. As commentators on both sides of the AI ​​divide frequently point out, whether as a promise or a threat, this is the worst the technology can ever be. Hollywood will have to confront and contend with this reality if it wants to help understand what is coming. ♦