How close are we to creating artificial intelligence robots like those in movies? Experts weigh in

Maria, Marvin, Sonny, David, and Ava are all ordinary-sounding names -- but in film, television, and literature, these seemingly ordinary names belong to extraordinary individuals who, despite their exemplary skills and complex personalities, are not human. Since Brigitte Helm's 1927 portrayal of Maria in Metropolis, audiences have developed an increased love/hate fascination with artificial intelligence. While filmmakers continue to address the controversy regarding the acceptance and cohabitation between humans and their modern creations parallel to real-world technological advancements, just how accurate is this representation in modern film, and have cinematic depictions evolved at all? Early films reflected the heightened fear of technology that developed among the working class during the Industrial Age by depicting metal machines as unstoppable forces of mayhem. This successfully fed into the pre-existing "anti-immigrant" nervous anticipation that technological advancements would go from taking over people's jobs to taking over the world.