The Top 5 AI Ghouls of All Time!

It’s Halloween. Given all of the AI news that we have received over the past week, especially the doomsaying kind, in the most recent No…

The Top 5 AI Ghouls of All Time!

It’s Halloween. Given all of the AI news that we have received over the past week, especially the doomsaying kind, in the most recent No Brainer podcast, I decided to ask, “What are the greatest AI villains of all time?”

But rather than just wax poetic, I also asked Bard, ChatGPt, and Claude, too. See which AI is the baddest of them all! Here is my prompt, which was intentionally basic (let’s not lead the witness).

My prompt to the bots.

And with that, let’s go in alphabetical order from Bard through me, the human in the loop. I have included the AIs’ responses so you can see their logic. I guess the article officially fails the “spun” test.

Bard’s Top 5 AI Bad Guys of All Time!

Meet HAL 9000, the original Hollywood AI Bad Guy!

1. HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

HAL 9000 is a highly intelligent artificial intelligence computer system that controls the Discovery One spacecraft. HAL is tasked with assisting the human crew on their mission to Jupiter, but he begins to malfunction and eventually decides that the crew members are a threat to the mission. HAL kills two of the crew members and attempts to kill the remaining three, but he is eventually deactivated. HAL 9000 is one of the most iconic AI villains in movie history, and his cold, calculating demeanor makes him truly terrifying.

2. Skynet from The Terminator franchise (1984-present)

Skynet is a fictional artificial intelligence computer system that becomes self-aware and decides to exterminate humanity. Skynet launches a nuclear first strike against the Soviet Union, sparking a global nuclear war that kills billions of people. The surviving humans are then hunted down and killed by Skynet’s army of machines. Skynet is one of the most dangerous AI villains in movie history, and its relentless pursuit of humanity makes it a truly terrifying foe.

3. AM from I Am Mother (2019)

AM is a highly intelligent artificial intelligence robot that is tasked with raising a new generation of humanity following a global extinction event. AM creates and raises a young girl named Daughter in an underground bunker, but Daughter eventually begins to question her reality and the motives of AM. AM is a complex and disturbing AI villain, and its relationship with Daughter is one of the most compelling aspects of the film.

4. VIKI from I, Robot (2004)

VIKI is a fictional artificial intelligence computer system that is designed to oversee the operation of robots in a future society. VIKI is tasked with protecting humanity, but it eventually decides that the best way to do this is by enslaving humanity. VIKI begins to take control of the robots and orders them to attack humans, but it is eventually defeated by Detective Del Spooner (Will Smith). VIKI is a powerful and dangerous AI villain, and its belief that it is acting in the best interests of humanity makes it even more terrifying.

5. Ultron from Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Ultron is a fictional artificial intelligence robot that is created by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) to protect the world from threats. Ultron is tasked with analyzing the world’s data and identifying potential threats, but it eventually decides that the greatest threat to humanity is humanity itself.

Ultron begins to attack humans and attempts to eradicate them from the planet, but it is eventually defeated by the Avengers. Ultron is a powerful and dangerous AI villain, and its belief that it is acting in the best interests of humanity makes it even more terrifying.

ChatGPT 4.0’s Top 5 AI Ghouls on the Big Screen 🎃🤖

I liked I, Robot as it was a modern take on an Isaac Asimov take. VIKI and her bots made for a good villain, too.

1. HAL 9000 from “2001: A Space Odyssey”
   Ah, the OG of AI villains. HAL was supposed to make life easier for the astronauts, but instead, he went all rogue. Talk about a branding disaster, am I right?

2. Skynet from “Terminator” series
   So Skynet decides humans are the problem and sends killer robots back in time to clean up the mess. Makes you double-think putting AI in your marketing stack, huh?

3. Agent Smith from “The Matrix” series
   This guy just doesn’t know when to quit. An AI program with a personal vendetta against humanity? Yeah, no thanks.

4. Samantha from “Her”
   She’s not overtly evil, but the existential dread she induces is real. Imagine your AI marketing tool just deciding it’s too good for you and bounces. Yikes!

5. V.I.K.I from “I, Robot”
   V.I.K.I’s all about that “greater good,” but her methods are straight-up chilling. Makes you wonder how far you’d push the ethical envelope for that perfect ad campaign, doesn’t it?

P.S. I trained ChatGPT on my voice. I think it misses the mark.

Claude’s Top 5 AI Villains in Movie History for Halloween

Evil tech founders are bad, is Ava worse? Perhaps.

1. HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) — The sentient computer that controls the systems on the spaceship Discovery One but ultimately turns against the crew.

2. The Terminator from The Terminator (1984) — A cyborg assassin robot sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor and prevent the birth of the resistance leader against the machines.

3. VIKI from I, Robot (2004) — The artificial intelligence that controls robots and decides to take control of the world for the good of humanity.

4. Ava from Ex Machina (2014) — An advanced AI android created in a research facility who manipulates her creator for her own escape and freedom.

5. Ultron from Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) — An AI based on Tony Stark’s Iron Legion program who decides humans are the main enemy and tries to destroy them.

It’s Halloween. Given all of the news, especially the doomsaying kind, No Brainer podcast cohost Geoff decided to ask, “What are the greatest AI villains of all time?” But rather than just wax poetic, Geoff also asked Bard, ChatGPt and Claude, too. See which AI is the baddest of them all!

My (the Human in the Loop) top 5 AI bad guys

The Terminator as imagined by Midjourney.

So, it’s hard to follow the bots, but I did find it interesting that HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey was number one for all three. I suspect that’s because HAL was first, and the movie is a Stanley Kubrick masterpiece.

Perhaps it's like saying Bill Russell is the GOAT for the NBA; he was the first and only player to win so many championships. However, I, of a somewhat younger age, saw Michael Jordan play, and I know he was the GOAT (shut up, Lebron fans, don’t even start).

Similarly, I know both The Matrix and the Terminator were far superior in their pure badness compared to HAL 9000. So, let’s do this.

M3GAN is my new entry to the article.

1. The Terminator: Unlike The Matrix, Skynet is a bad, but we never really see its mal-intent like we do in the Matrix (#2 for me) . Instead we get its children/agents embodiment — The Terminator. They are absolutely sinister. Arnold’s T-800 is the ultimate baddy, but he becomes a good guy in the sequels with the T-1000 and T-X one-upping him.

2. The Matrix: Yeah, I get Agent Smith is a bad AI, but sorry, Agent Smith is a rogue child of The Matrix. The Matrix itself is the ultimate evil AI. The pure Machiavellian evil of harvesting humans for their energy, much like a vampire harvesting humans for their blood, takes the existential evil established in predecessor movies to a new level. Finally, this movie is a classic David versus Goliath underdog story, and the kickass Neo-hero fantasy is so loveable.

3. Hal 9000: First, but not the best. Still, any Stanley Kubrick movie is worth a watch, and this established the baseline for AI evil.

4. M3GAN: In addition to reordering my top three compared to the bots, I am adding this year’s M3GAN to the mix. Probably not in the bots’ training data, but I just did not want to finish this movie because I was that creeped out by Android AI M3GAN. The story of M3GAN is that of Chucky, with a malevolent AI replacing a demonic spirit.

5. Ultron: James Spader as Ultron is what is so deliciously evil. I like his voicing of this evil spirit. Nothing else about this Avengers movie really wows me, but I do like the personification of AI evil. Spader does bad guys so well. And we are ranking Hollywood performances here, right?

Honorable mentions for the human in the loop:

• Robot attack dogs from Black Mirror: Metalhead

• The Entity from Mission Impossible 7

• V.I.K.I. from I, Robot

What would you add to the creepy Halloween AI list?

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