Fiction and reality collide in this graphic feature iconic fictional AI characters from the team at AIPRM. There is a near century long history of humans imagining what AI might be like in the future along with the havoc and benefits they might offer society. As we can see in this visual timeline, AI takes a lot of different appearances and forms. We seem to have a tendency to give AI a humanoid shell to occupy, like in False Maria, our very first example from the film Metropolis. We’ve kept this tradition up all the way to 2022’s horror film, M3gan about a self-aware AI doll with a scary side. Not all AI have our human features though. TARS in the film, Interstellar had all the appearance of a supercomputer, as did Samantha in the movie, Her. The most beloved AI often has a cute, creature appearance like Pixar’s Wall-E as well as Star Wars icon, R2-D2.

Infographic by: aiprm