AI Apocalypse: A Guide to Artificial Intelligence as Portrayed in and Predicted By SF Stories, Novels, TV, Films, Comic Books, and Video Games

Isabella Hermann observes: “Science fiction (SF) has become a reference point in the discourse on the ethics and risks surrounding artificial intelligence (AI). Thus, AI in SF—science-fictional AI—is considered part of a larger corpus of ‘AI narratives’ that shape our fears and hopes about the technology.”

AI Apocalypse explores that corpus through a focused examination of how artificial intelligence has been portrayed in science fiction across literature, film, television, comics, and interactive media.

Rather than predicting the future of AI or offering definitive conclusions about its real-world impact, this book presents a selective survey of fictional works in which AI plays a significant role in the plot, themes, or central ideas. Each entry is devoted to a single novel, short story, film, television series, comic book, or video game, providing a concise synopsis and an analysis of how AI is depicted—whether as benevolent, malevolent, neutral, or morally ambiguous.

All opinions presented in AI Apocalypse are the author’s alone. The book does not claim to predict where real-world AI is heading, nor does it attempt to speak for the fears, hopes, or intentions of creators, artists, or technologists. Instead, it offers a curated look at how science fiction itself has imagined artificial intelligence—often guessing wrong, sometimes guessing uncomfortably close, and always revealing more about human concerns than machine futures.

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