Human-cyborg relations: how movies portray AI, robots, and human love

By Matt DeTurck, Megan Mack, Julie Williams

Published February 7, 2025 at 3:53 PM EST

Five smiling people wearing headphones sit at a desk in a radio talk studio: a man at left in foreground has short brown hair and a brown beard and is wearing a blue blazer, pink button-down shirt and jeans; a man at right in foreground has short brown hair and a brown beard and is wearing glasses, a blue sweatshirt, light green button-down shirt, brown pants and black shoes; a woman at left in background is wearing a black knit cap, glasses and a colorful patterned fleece; a man at right in background has a grey beard and is wearing a black baseball cap and a beige button-down shirt with a black t-shirt; a man at center has a grey beard and is wearing a black baseball cap, a black and red plaid button-down shirt, black t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. — (foreground) Max Irwin and Scott Pukos, (background) Meghan Murphy and Adam Lubitow with guest host Matt DeTurck on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Friday, February 7, 2025

A smiling man sits in front of a microphone at a table in a radio talk studio: he is wearing a red baseball cap, a black short sleeved t-shirt with yellow lettering and a black short sleeved button down shirt with a red, yellow and green pattern. — Guest host Matt DeTurck on "Connections with Evan Dawson"

From 1927's "Metropolis" to 2025's "Companion," the relationships that humans have with robots — especially as depicted on cinema screens — has always been filled with passion, surprises, and regret.

With artificial intelligence becoming more and more ubiquitous worldwide, how has Hollywood portrayed robot relationships, compared to where we're at and how AI is being used today?

Guest host Matt DeTurck discusses it with an AI expert and film experts.

In studio:

Max Irwin, founder and CEO of Max.io
Adam Lubitow, projectionist and programmer at The Little Theatre, and programming director for Anomaly: The Rochester Genre Film Festival
Meghan Murphy, co-founder of Anomaly: The Rochester Genre Film Festival
Scott Pukos, director of communications for The Little Theatre