STEAM and AI have become increasingly relevant story lines in film and television in recent years. Here we examine the impact that STEAM and AI have made on popular culture throughout the years

  • Oppenheimer tells the story of the brilliant nuclear physicist who oversaw the Manhattan Project and the creation of the first atomic bomb.

  • Based on the 1950 Isaac Asimov short story with the same title, the film is a cautionary tale about the dangers of AI and AI-powered robots. Set in 2035, humanoids serve humanity, while they are governed by the Three Laws of Robotics - A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

    Needless to say, the robots run amok in direct violation of the three laws. We come to find out that VIKI (Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence) controls all of the humanoids, including the one that committed murder (now calling itself “Sonny”). VIKI later justifies violating the three laws, based on a conclusion that it was necessary to re-interpret the three laws since humankind was destined to destroy itself unless humandoids took over. Hmmm - we are not buying that one.

  • Perhaps the first AI villain was portrayed in the legendary 1968 Sci Fi film, 2001 a Space Odyssey.

  • “The Big Bang Theory” (2007–2019) is a sitcom centered around a group of friends who are physicists at CalTech. The show is immensely propular, even in re-reruns; and as a bonus it contributes to STEM education. For example, one of the characters, Howard Wolowitz, works with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on both the International Space Station and interplanetary space probe projects.

  • Jurassic Park is a Michael Crighton Sci- Fi film that brings dinosaurs back to life in the late 20th century. The dinosaurs are cloned by extracting their DNA from prehistoric mosquitoes preserved in amber. There they live peacefully in a theme park in Costa Rica until it is revealed that Amphibian DNA was used to fill in gaps during the cloning process.

    Because of the amphibian DNA, the dinosaurs, including the Alpha Predator T-Rex, are capable of breeding. At that point, chaos breaks out, leading Chaos Theorist and Mathematician Dr. Malcom to expound “Life finds a way”.

    The film was a huge hit among young people, and provided an excellent, although fictional example of how genetic engineering could be accomplished. It also made use of ground breaking Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) to pull off its awesome special effects.

  • The Imitation Game is a biographical thriller film based on the life and career of Alan Turing.

  • A Beautiful Mind is a biographical film about the mathematician John Nash.