The 1950s and 1960s
Paula Murphy · Edinburgh University Press eBooks · 2024
This chapter considers AI films from the 1950s and 1960s, which are primarily technophobic in attitude and present a predominantly white, patriarchal worldview. AIs are linked to contemporary issues like nuclear power and space flight. Excessive ambition and arrogance are common flaws in AI scientists and inventors from The Invisible Boy, Forbidden Planet and 2001: Space Odyssey. The disruptive potential of the AI in terms of gender is indicated through Robby the Robot. Robby and HAL 9000 present affective intelligences for the first time. Alpha 60 in Alphaville demonstrates the most dystopian vision of this era as a supercomputer who has risen to power and rules humans by logic alone.