# Were the beings in the movie A.I. aliens or robots? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 7, 2003, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053 "2003-09-07T05:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/21 "2011-02-07T02:02:24Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > Maybe obvious by this point, but **SPOILERS!** > > I think A.I. was a fascinating film. It seems plain to me that the creatures at the end are robots; it only makes sense that robots would survive on earth long after humans were extinct. As the film made clear, robots were smarter and tougher than humans – they also _never get distracted_. This is perfectly illustrated in the chilling final scene (which, unfortunately, nobody gets because Spielberg did such a masterful job of misdirection, making it feel like pablum). At the very end of the movie, the superrobots basically say to David: “We can give you a couple hours to hang out with your mom, who you purport to care about, but if we do it will _destroy her soul forever_.” And his response is “So? I want what I want.” > > Prior to this scene your sympathy is with David – every time he hurts someone, you chalk it up to humans simply not understanding him. Which is correct – they don’t. But here you have to face that David is a time-bomb waiting to go off – he has no facility to modify his goals in light of greater wisdom. No human could ever achieve such singularity of purpose, which is why humans will never be as good at anything as robots will eventually be at everything. > > –Cliffy Did they say she had a soul? I thought it was just that they could bring her back, but only once and for one day. From the IMDB: > [@](#): > > Specialist (evolved mecha): David, I often felt a sort of envy of human beings, of that thing they call ‘spirit’. Human beings have created a million explanations of the meaning of life- in art, in poetry, and mathematical formulas. Certainly human beings must be the key to the meaning of existence. But human beings no longer existed. > > So, we began a project- that would make it possible to recreate the living body of a person long dead from the DNA in a fragment of bone or mummified skin. We also wondered would it be possible to retrieve a memory trace in resonance with a recreated body. And you know what we found? We found the very fabric of space/time itself appeared to store information about every event which had ever occured in the past. > > But the experiment was a failure. For those who were resurrected only lived through a single day of renewed life. When the resurectees fell asleep on the night of their first new day they died, again. As soon as they became unconcious, their very existence faded away into darkness. So you see, David, the equations have shown that once an individual space/time part had been used it could not be reused. If we bring your mother back now it will only be for one day. And you will never be able to see her again. > > David: Maybe, maybe she will be special. Maybe she will stay. > > Specialist (evolved mecha): I thought this would be hard for you to understand. You were created to be so young. > > David: Maybe the one day will be like that one day inside the amphibicopter. Maybe it will last forever. Bringing her back gives her one extra day, and then she fades away back to the oblivion she would have been in if they hadn’t brought her back. David isn’t even only thinking of himself - he loves her so much he genuinely thinks she might be special. Another quote from the IMDB: > [@](#): > > Specialist (evolved mecha): This machine was trapped under the wreckage before the freezing. Therefore, these robots are originals. They knew living people. I think it’s pretty certain that the creatures that looked like superadvanced robots in a film called Artificial Intelligence were, indeed, robots. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/22 "2011-02-07T02:41:23Z")
I can’t find the cite, but Kathleen Kennedy(producer) said that is absolutely, 100% robots and was never intended to be even a little bit vague. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/23 "2011-02-07T02:59:51Z")
> [@owlofcreamcheese](#): > > of course they are robots. its a pretty crappy story otherwise. You could have omitted the last word and still be right. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/24 "2011-02-07T03:08:47Z")
I’m not sure what the debate is about. I watched the movie until the very end and didn’t see any alien-looking robots, just some kid robot staring at a blue fairy forever. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/25 "2011-02-07T04:44:30Z")
I accept that they were intended to be robots, but given that, why on Earth would they make them look so much like the classic Grays? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/26 "2011-02-07T08:26:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I accept that they were intended to be robots, but given that, why on Earth would they make them look so much like the classic Grays? Either it’s coincidence - they wanted a human-like form but more flexible and silvery because of the robot ‘ancestry,’ or it’s intentional: they wanted them to look a bit alien. The supermecha don’t have the grays’ usual huge black eyes, though, and they’re much taller, and you can see what looks like circuitry and electric sparks in their heads.(Like [here](http://www.mojomovie.com/images/cache/screen_image_343846.jpg)). I guess the fact that some people managed to miss that they were robots shows how much viewer were unengaged by that part of the movie. If I had the script I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a quote that made it even more clear what they are. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/27 "2011-02-07T08:33:07Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > They sure looked like aliens. But I only saw it the one time, and I had checked out long before the ending. You have seen aliens? ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/28 "2011-02-07T14:04:54Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > You have seen aliens? Yes. Mostly dishwashers and cooks. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/29 "2011-02-07T15:44:54Z")
They were robots. I didn’t even have the tiniest thought in the back of my head that they might be aliens. That’s an interesting interpretation, though. 1. They visually looked like advanced robots to me. 2. The whole plot of the movie would lead to the idea of humans and robots eventually merging as a species in the future. 3. They did computery stuff like sharing video files between them. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/30 "2011-02-07T16:01:32Z")
I always figured the silvery humanoids were highly evolved robots – the descendants, as it were, of Gigolo Joe and David and all the robots we saw getting torn up at Flesh Fairs. That’s the perfect ending to the story – what the more excitable humans feared, that humanity would go extinct and robots would replace it, is exactly what has come to pass. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/31 "2011-02-07T16:09:14Z")
Yes, they were robots (or “mechas,” to use the parlance of the film). No doubt. I liked the movie very, very much, even though I was keenly aware of how adroitly Spielberg was pushing my sympathy buttons. And although it wouldn’t have been as powerful an ending, I have to admit, I wondered why the superadvanced mechas didn’t simply create a mecha who looked, talked, felt and acted just like David’s mom, so they could be happy together for eternity. Given their capabilities, you’d think it would be a snap. BTW, for a pretty good (but not wonderful) sf book about a Solar System populated by robots after the unexplained passing of humanity, check out Charles Stross’s _Saturn’s Children_. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/32 "2011-02-08T23:15:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I accept that they were intended to be robots, but given that, why on Earth would they make them look so much like the classic Grays? What do you want them to look like? Autobots!! TRANSFORM!!!? Actually, there really isn’t any reason they should look like anything recognizable in particular. Or for that matter, exist as anything other than some massive AI server farm/factory that manufactures purpose-built remote controlled drones to perform whatever physical tasks are required (mining, fixing shit, tearing David limb from limb, whatever). ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/33 "2011-02-08T23:44:08Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I’m not sure what the debate is about. I watched the movie until the very end and didn’t see any alien-looking robots, just some kid robot staring at a blue fairy forever. Serves you right for only buying the 2hr video cassettes. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/34 "2011-02-09T02:40:33Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I thought they were aliens too. However, every article I’ve read says robots, so I guess they are. Can’t they be alien robots? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/35 "2011-02-09T04:39:07Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Can’t they be alien robots? Yeah! Who wash dishes and cook food! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/36 "2011-02-09T05:23:49Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Yes. Mostly dishwashers and cooks. Sooner or later, you’ll find Jesus too. Anyway, they wuz robots, but since the movie abandoned coherence long before then, they could be aliens and it would make no difference. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053/37 "2011-02-09T06:02:42Z")
The narrator states only 2000 years have passed, which in my opinion lends more support to the “robot” theory (on the grounds that it’s unlikely aliens were already here or would arrive in that amount of time). As for why it appears more time has passed: This should maybe be considered only semi-canonical, but the ARG “The Beast” developed to promote the movie provided some explanation of what happened. I know that Microsoft developed the game, but I don’t know how much influence the movie’s producers had in the story. That story took place about 100 years after most of the events of the movie. It turned out that a network of miniature robots used to control the weather (they essentially were seeded into the oceans to change the albedo) became self-aware and decided to do away with humanity. They formed an alliance with a number of other humanoid robots, who by that time were ubiquitous. The weather was changed to make the earth mostly frozen, which explains why the ice is so thick where David is, and what killed off the humans. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-beings-in-the-movie-a-i-aliens-or-robots/200053.md?page=1)