These worksheets use film as a starting point for analyzing the social and political impacts of artificial intelligence. Each one identifies relevant scenes, proposes topics for discussion, and includes questions that can be used in classes, academic activities, or other discussion settings.
The films are not presented as predictions of the future. They are stories that help us examine current problems: who controls technology, what power relations are embedded in it, how it transforms human relationships, and what responsibilities arise as AI systems gain greater capabilities and autonomy.
Where to start
The collection can be explored from different starting points, depending on the topic you want to address:
2001: A Space Odyssey: the autonomy of critical systems, trust in artificial intelligence, institutional secrecy, conflicting objectives, and the limits of human control.
The Matrix: Deep Into the Net: simulation, surveillance, the power of digital infrastructures, freedom, and resistance to systems of control.
Blade Runner: identity, artificial memory, exploitation, corporate power, and the possible rights of synthetic entities.
Ex Machina: artificial consciousness, the concentration of technological power, manipulation, surveillance, gender, and corporate responsibility.
Her: emotional relationships with AI systems, anthropomorphism, privacy, technological dependence, and the autonomy of artificial intelligences.
What themes do these films explore?
The worksheets address, among others, the following topics:
intelligence, consciousness, sentience, and artificial autonomy;
surveillance, control, and the concentration of technological power;
identity, memory, and the boundaries between humans and machines;
emotional relationships, care, and dependence on AI systems;
gender bias and the design of artificial bodies and identities;
the responsibility of developers, companies, users, and institutions;
exploitation, recognition, and the possible rights of synthetic entities;
automated decision-making and the loss of human control;
social representations of artificial intelligence and technological change.
Each film brings several of these issues together. The worksheets do not propose a single interpretation. They provide elements for identifying power relations, comparing different positions, and discussing the social, ethical, and political consequences of the technologies represented on screen.