A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Set in a near future where humanlike machines coexist with people, A.I. Artificial Intelligence follows David, a synthetic boy programmed to love. After a Cybertronics engineer offers him to a family as an experiment, David forms a close bond with his adoptive mother and brother. As ordinary family life falters under social pressures and personal doubts, David clings to the belief that love will secure his place. He goes beyond the safe routines of his household, searching for acceptance and a way to be seen as more than a machine. The story focuses on David's hopes and confusion, avoiding major plot reveals while tracking his emotional struggles and the reactions he provokes. It blends wonder and unease about artificial life.

Released in 2001, the film was directed by Steven Spielberg, drawing on Brian Aldiss's short story 'Super-Toys Last All Summer Long' with contributions from Ian Watson, and evolving from earlier work developed under Stanley Kubrick during several decades of development.

A.I. had a moderate commercial run, opening to mixed audience reactions and earning a solid global return without becoming a major blockbuster, its performance reflecting divided public opinion and curiosity about its challenging emotional and technological themes and wider debate.

The movie sparked debates about personhood, parenting and the ethics of artificial sentience, while its imagery, including the blue fairy motif and David's quest, has lodged in popular culture. Filmmakers and scholars continue to reference its blend of fairy tale tone with speculative futurism when discussing AI in art today.

Critics were mixed, praising technical achievements and emotional ambition while faulting uneven pacing and sentimental turns. Viewers who connect with its fairy tale framing find a meditation on identity, grief and desire, while others see unanswered questions. The film raises issues about empathy, creation and what we owe intelligent beings.