Artificial intelligence (AI) has been around for some time, but with the rise of AI chatbots, it is becoming a deeper part of everyday conversation. This has extended to the entertainment space as well, with many shows over the last decade, and even some as recently as this year, tackling the concept with unique spins.
From human-like AI beings to a digital afterlife, a sentient being manipulating society and a skilled hacker looking to take down an evil corporation, the best shows about AI run the gamut. But a handful of them rank among the best of the best.
12‘Almost Human’ (2013 - 2014)
It only lasted a single season, butAlmost Humanhad an interesting premise.The Boys’Karl Urbanplays John, a police detective in the year 2048 who is paired with an android partner named Dorian or DRN-0167 (Michael Ealy) as part of a new directive. John, however, has a history with the robots who base their decisions on who to help and who not to help on logic alone.
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Exploring a high-tech futuristic world with memory recovery doctors, it’s really the growing relationship between John and Dorian, an older-model android that elicits more emotion-like responses, that’s at the heart of this sci-fi crime drama.J.J. Abramsis counted among its executive producers.
11‘Humans’ (2015 - 2018)
The British sci-fi series is based on the Swedish seriesReal Humansand focuses on the effects of a future society occupied by anthropomorphic robots called synths. Along with heavy themes of AI inHumansare themes of consciousness, super-intelligence, and uploading of the mind along with how these technologies can impact society, culture, and psychology.
The series, which countsCarrie-Anne Moss,Ted Lasso’sPhil Dunster, andBlack Panther’sLetitia Wrightamong its cast, is praised for its thought-provoking storylines and suspense. It’s asci-fi series that those who don’t likesci-fi would even enjoy.
10’Altered Carbon' (2018 - 2020)
Imagine a world where someone’s consciousness can be transferred to a different body, which becomes its “sleeve?” This is what the future world looks like inAltered Carbon, which takes place more than 360 years in the future, in the year 2384. The story begins when a former soldier and lone survivor of a rebel group of mercenaries named Takeshi, is pulled out of prison and offered the opportunity to get a new lease on life. That is, only if he helps solve a murder.
The lead character is played byJoel Kinnaman, Anthony Mackie, andRay Chasethroughout the series’ run. While complicated at times, the cyberpunk series is an ambitious look at an unbelievable future for AI technology.
9’NeXt’ (2020)
Canceled after only two episodes aired, Fox still aired the remaining episodes of the first season ofNeXt. The sci-fi crime drama might not have lasted, but it has a wonderful cast. The intriguing premise inNeXtrelating to AI may have seemed too much like art imitating life.
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John Slatteryplays Paul, a former tech CEO who left the company and became a vocal dissenter of AI technology once he saw what it could become. However, he is also suffering from a rare degenerative brain disease and is trying to keep that a secret. Meanwhile, the AI from his former company has gone rogue and Paul is seemingly the only one who truly understands the danger everyone is in, and the urgency in trying to stop it.
8’Class of ‘09’ (2023)
One of the newest series about AI,Class of ’09takes place not only in the near future (2034) but also in the present (2023 and 2025) as well as the past (2009). The central characters are FBI recruits working in law enforcement at a time when AI is being integrated more and more into the investigative process. The idea is to use AI to help predict future crimes.
With a cast led byBrian Tyree HenryandKata Mara,Class of ’09has eight episodes in its first season, which received mixed reviews. Nonetheless, most critics love the unique structure, flipping back and forth to show different perspectives and the slow growth of AI in the field.
7’Travelers' (2016 - 2018)
Eric McCormackstars in this post-apocalyptic series about special operatives in the future who are tasked with saving society from collapse. They do this by working as travelers, their consciousness sent back in time to occupy the host body of someone who is about to die. Interestingly, the travelers inTravelerscan locate their targets easily using smartphones and GPS from today’s technology.
An AI monitoring system tracks the timeline from the future while the director of the mission uses young children as communicators, taking over their bodies for a short period without worry that it could kill them. The well-reviewedtime-traveling TV seriesshows the depth of AI not only in creating robots but effectively turning humans into ones to complete various missions.
6’Person of Interest' (2011 - 2016)
AI is at the heart of this J.J. Abrams sci-fi crime drama about a reclusive billionaire and genius computer programmer named Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) who creates a program for the government that can predict terrorist attacks. But when he believes the power it wields could be used for nefarious acts, Harold decides to take his machine and go into hiding. Presumed dead, he enlists the help of a former special forces soldier and CIA operative named John Reese (Jim Caviezel), also presumed dead, who he thinks shares his same moral code.
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Together, the two use The Machine to predict bad acts before they happen, solve mysteries, and take down the people presumed to be involved. However, the AI can only detect that something will happen and who will be involved: it doesn’t always know who is the perpetrator and who is the victim.Person of Interestis enthralling, action-packed, and focuses as heavily on character development as each case. It presents issues of privacy, morality, and government control relating to AI.
With a more humorous take on AI and society’s obsession with it,Uploadpresents a future where a digital afterlife exists. Thanks to AI technology, human consciousness can be uploaded into all types of digital afterlives should their living family and friends be willing to pay for it. As with the real world, these digital afterlives are divided by social and economic class, and feature invasive advertising, add-on purchases, and constant manipulation of those with the pocketbooks.
Thefunny sci-fi TV series, which was renewed for a third season, is like a parody of the real world’s obsession with technology like AI. The various characters and clever writing make it among the best.
4’Westworld' (2016 - 2022)
Surprisingly canceled after its fourth season,Westworldleft die-hard fans wanting more, with a cliffhanger ending that implied there was more story to tell. The dystopian sci-fi Western diverted greatly from its original premise, with only the original season based on the core story from theMichael Crichtonfilm of the same name.
In this future world, an entire playground society has been built for the wealthy and elite as. They can live out fantasies that often involve “manly” activities, like battling gunslingers and bedding women. The “people” in Westworld are actually AI android hosts, all powered and controlled by an AI called Rehoboam. When the hosts, however, start to become sentient, retaining memories and developing something resembling feelings, the entire world explodes in mayhem. What’s most interesting about the portrayal of AI inWestworldis how human the hosts appear to be, so much so that fans don’t even know at times who is real and who isn’t.
3’Mrs. Davis' (2023 - )
A biting commentary on the state of the world and a humorous albeit also serious warning for a potential dystopian future,Mrs. Daviscombines comedy with drama and sci-fi.Betty Gilpinstars as Sister Simone, a nun who appears to be the only person on Earth who doesn’t bend to the will of a powerful AI that tells people what to do. The AI speaks to people through wireless headsets, speaking through people when it wants to reach people like Simone who refuse to listen.
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When Mrs. Davis, however, wreaks havoc in Simone’s life, forcing her to perform an important task in exchange for destroying itself, it’s an opportunity too tempting to pass up. The ending is one fans will never see coming, with a big pay-off that is thought-provoking and eye-opening.
