How Movies About Tech Turned Dystopian
A slew of movies about tech villains could harm the industry's AI ambitions—or backfire spectacularly against Hollywood itself.
In 2014, a film titled The Imitation Game hit theaters, depicting Alan Turing's efforts to build a machine capable of solving any problem. The story, told from 2026, seemed unsettling and dystopian, but it ultimately celebrated Turing's pivotal role in helping the Allies decrypt German intelligence messages during World War II. This movie was a massive box office success, winning an Oscar and representing the techno-optimist ethos of the Obama era.
However, the tide has turned in recent years. A new wave of films released this fall serve as a critique of the tech industry's impact on society. These movies portray tech titans as exacerbating violent extremism, undermining democratic norms, misleading the public, and risking humanity's future. Some portrayals seem to lean into activism, with the protagonists in The Social Reckoning seeking to hold Zuckerberg accountable by "causing pain."
This shift in perspective raises questions about the role of Hollywood, which is significantly influenced by billionaire investors heavily invested in AI. The backlash from these films could prove self-defeating, as the technology industry's power and influence continue to grow.
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