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The AI Syllabus

This guide is designed to provide access to the concepts and resources comprising the AI Syllabus by Anne Kingsley and Emily Moss.

Film and Television

Critical AI Literacies: 

  • Compare portrayals of AI in entertainment with how it shows up in our lives. 
  • Explore the impact of AI on the production of entertainment focusing on issues of identity and representation, authenticity, authorship, and copyright. 

On this page you will find multimedia sources that include several films and television programs that feature general AI as a character as well as information that reflects how people who work in the entertainment industry are using, considering, and discussing AI. This page also includes key concepts, activities, and assignments to build understanding of and critically engage with the AI and entertainment. 

Sources

 

Film and Television 

Sources:

 

Brooker, C., and Jones, A. (Executive Producers). (2011-present). Black mirror [TV series]. Zeppotron; House of Tomorrow; Broke and Bones. 

  • A dystopian anthology series that uses technology to comment on contemporary social issues and often demonstrates a negative view of the unending pursuit of scientific and technological advancement. Available on Netflix streaming platform. #Practical #Philosophical

 

Brundage, Miles. (2014, November 14). The anti-HAL: The Interstellar robot should be the future of artificial intelligence. Slate. 

  • This article situates TARS, the film’s AI, in a tradition of how AI has historically been rendered in film. #Philosophical

 

The D-Word. (2024, April 6). Full frame 2024 - Gary Hustwit, filmmaker (Eno) [Video]. Youtube. 

  • In this 10 minute interview with the director of generative AI documentary, Eno, he talks about his process of constructing a film that plays with different scenes, different sequence of scenes, and different music every time with millions of possible permutations ensuring that an audience always sees a unique version of the film specific to only their viewing experience. He includes that he was motivated to make a generative documentary by posing the question ‘why does a movie have to be the same every time you watch it?’. Discussion of his process begins at 4:30. #Practical #Philosophical

 

Film First. (2025, January 10). Eno: Official trailer [Video]. Youtube. 

  • This is the one minute trailer for the generative documentary film, Eno, on the life and work of musician, Brian Eno, co-founder of the band Roxy Music and frequent collaborator of David Bowie. Because of its generative nature, no two viewings of the film are the same. #Practical #Philosophical

 

Garland, A. (Director). (2014). Ex Machina [Film]. Film 4. DNA Films. 

  • This science fiction film follows a programmer who is invited by his CEO to administer the Turing test to an intelligent humanoid robot named Ava, with unsettling consequences. #Practical #Philosophical

 

Glick, J. (2023, January 13). AI isn’t Hollywood’s villain - it’s a flawed hero. Wired. 

  • In this article, a film and electronic arts professor details how the film industry has historically been marked by disruption including the advent of sound and digital filmmaking and AI is the latest iteration of that trajectory. He notes the most common ways in which AI is currently used for VFX, sound correction, storyboarding as well as how it could be used in the future. He also includes that to utilize AI tools in service of filmmaking requires a variety of skilled labor and that human perspective will always be needed for effective creation. #Practical #Philosophical

 

Hernandez, T., and Lindelof, D., et al (Executive Producers). (2023). Mrs. Davis [TV series]. White Rabbit Productions; Warner Bros. Television. 

  • Sister Simone partners with her ex-boyfriend Wiley on a globe-spanning journey to destroy Mrs. Davis, a powerful artificial intelligence. Available on Peacock streaming platform. #Practical #Philosophical

 

Jonze, S. (Director). (2013). Her [Film]. Annapurna Pictures. 

  • The film follows Theodore Twombly, a lonely writer who develops a relationship with Samantha, an artificially intelligent virtual assistant personified through a female voice. As Theodore navigates his own emotions and struggles with intimacy, the film explores themes of love, connection, and the evolving nature of relationships in a technologically advanced future. #Practical #Philosophical

 

Lees, D. (2025, January 23). AI voice technology used in The Brutalist is nothing new - the backlash is about transparency. The Conversation. 

  • In this article, a film professor and expert researcher on AI and filmmaking, discusses the controversy surrounding the Academy Award winning film, The Brutalist, which used AI voice technology to authenticate the Hungarian accents of its lead actors. They note that while GenAI is a thorny subject in filmmaking discourse, this particular use is fairly standard in production processes. #Practical

 

Maddaus, G. How the WGA decided to harness - but not ban - artificial intelligence. (2023, May 23). Variety.

  • This article looks at how writers in film and television are making use of generative AI in their work while acknowledging that this is still labor that they should be appropriately compensated for in the context of the ongoing writers’ strike. #Practical

 

Nolan, C. (Director). (2014). Interstellar [Film]. Legendary Pictures. 

  • The film is set in a dystopian future where Earth is facing disasters, famines, and droughts, and follows a group of astronauts who travel through a wormhole near Saturn in search of a new home for humankind. #Practical #Philosophical

 

Proyas, A. (Director). (2004). I, Robot [Film]. 20th Century Fox. 

  • In 2035, a technophobic cop investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot, which leads to a larger threat to humanity. Inspired by but not adapted from Isaac Asimov’s work of the same title. #Practical #Philosophical

 

Rianda, M. (Director). (2021). The Mitchells vs. The Machines [Film]. Columbia.

  • Katie Mitchell is about to start college when her nostalgic father decides to create a cross country family road trip. Their plans go haywire when the electronic devices everyone loves take over and seek out to destroy the human world. Available on Netflix streaming platform. #Practical #Philosophical

 

Sanders, S. (Host). (2023, August 8). How AI is (already) transforming Hollywood [Audio podcast episode]. In Into It: A Vulture Podcast with Sam Sanders. New York Magazine. 

  • In this 40 min episode, Sanders speaks with a VFX artist who uses AI in his work as well as a professor who studies the use of AI in film. #Practical

 

Schager, N. (2025, January 21). Steven Soderbergh defends AI in film: ‘I’m not threatened’. The Daily Beast.

  • In this interview with Academy Award winning director, Steven Soderbergh, he discusses his feelings about AI in filmmaking including that he’s not threatened by it, that he views it alongside a tradition of filmmakers being creatively inspired by the work of other filmmakers, and that he can see its possibilities in assisting his process as a director. He also notes that humans will always want a story that is, at least in part, created and told by other humans and AI can’t get at that (yet). #Practical #Philosophical

 

Building Critical AI Literacies

KNOWING: 

AI in the entertainment industry is often depicted as human-like intelligence, capable of independent thought and decision-making, but in reality, current AI remains narrow, relying on statistical pattern recognition and human-guided training. Despite this gap between fiction and reality, AI has long played a role in filmmaking from visual effects to voice synthesis. As AI continues to evolve, its use raises important questions about creative integrity, copyright ownership, industry standards, and the potential for replicating existing inequities.

To critically engage with AI in entertainment, it's important to: 

  • Recognize that AI has been used in filmmaking for years as seen in tools like Respeecher and Massive. 
  • Understand the importance of transparency in creative work acknowledging how outside influences shape the final product. 
  • Acknowledge that AI use varies across industries and individuals, with different standards and philosophies shaping its role. 
  • Identify how AI can reinforce or introduce new forms of inequity in an industry already shaped by racial, gender, and identity-based disparities.

DOING: 

  • Create a short (3-5 minute) cinematic dialogue/script/film where AI characters discuss an AI ethical related issue within the industry (for example, bias, privacy, labor rights in the film industry). How did you create the character? What issue did you explore? What information or research did you provide to ground the discussion (provide citations)? What was the script? Did you produce a film? What were people’s reactions to the film/script?
  • What AI apps, tools, etc. are being used in Film and Television industry - and how? What are areas of AI usage that seem promising or useful? Uncertain? Or highly problematic? 
  • From ChatGPT with an emphasis on Freire/Hooks: Research an AI platform that suggests and curates historical film/TV footage—particularly from marginalized filmmakers—based on thematic or aesthetic prompts (e.g., “community resistance” or “radical joy”).Research Question: Does AI curation expand audiences’ film literacy and historical awareness, or does it merely replicate “the popular hits”?
  • Short film AI film fest - hackathon (on a theme or idea or line).
  • Can AI create a toolkit for new film and television writers to break the mold and do something new and innovative? What would this toolkit look like? What additional research, ideas, and texts could be added to what AI suggested?