What has changed is that audiences now have their own experience of talking to a machine. A scene that felt like pure fantasy ten years ago can now feel uncomfortably familiar.
Stories about artificial intelligence are older than computers. They have always been less about machines than about us: our fears of being replaced, our hopes of being understood, our questions about what makes a person.
Our picks
Some of these picks have aged badly in their details. The technology looks wrong, the interfaces are clunky. But the human questions at their centre still hold up remarkably well.
- Best for a first introduction
- The classic everyone cites
- Best for discussion with friends
- Best for younger audiences
What it gets wrong
If you only have one evening, start with the first pick. If you have a weekend, work through the list in order; each one builds on the ideas of the last.
The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim.
Edsger W. Dijkstra
We chose works that are easy to find on major platforms or in libraries. Availability changes by country, so check your local services.
Where to start
Creators are also using AI as a tool, not just a subject. That raises its own questions about credit, payment and what we value in a work of art.
For younger readers and viewers, several of these picks make a good starting point for conversations about technology, privacy and fairness at home or in the classroom.
