Tricia Helfer, who played a humanoid robot Cylon on "Battlestar Galactica," says the show's look at the conflict between humans and AI still resonates today. THE FUTURE IS NOW: "Battlestar Galactica" star Tricia Helfer feels the show was a prescient warning about artificial intelligence when it debuted more than 20 years ago. DEMOCRATIZING INTELLIGENCE: Compute Exchange CEO Simeon Bochev weighed in on the impact of computing power in artificial intelligence during an appearance on "Mornings with Maria." SIDE-FLIPPING ROBOT: Robots aren't just efficient machines anymore, they are now agile performers that can flip and jog. MAJOR INVESTMENT: ChatGPT creator OpenAI on Monday revealed it is getting up to 40 billion in new funding.

Tricia Helfer, who played a humanoid robot Cylon on "Battlestar Galactica," says the show's look at the conflict between humans and AI still resonates today. "We did warn against AI while we were shooting it," Helfer told Fox News Digital at the Beverly Hills Film Festival this week. She continued, "It was 20 years ago, and I've recently re-watched it and went, 'Oh my gosh, it's even more relevant now.' So I think we just really need to be careful. It's a slippery slope between using it to our advantage and having it maybe be able to control us a little bit." "I think we're a little bit far off from the humanoid Cylons yet and humanoid robots, but I don't know, they're coming," Helfer added.

This essay first appeared in our "Home" issue way back in 2013. But somehow feels so timely today. Halfway through director Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity, Sandra Bullock suffers the most cosmic case of homesick blues since Keir Dullea was hurled toward the infinite in 2001: A Space Odyssey nearly half a century ago. For Bullock, home is (as it was for Dullea) the Earth, looming below so huge it would seem she couldn't miss it, if she could somehow just fall from her shattered spacecraft. She cares about nothing more than getting back to where she came from, even as 2001's Dullea is in flight, accepting his exile and even embracing it.

In the 2003 reboot of Battlestar Galactica we learned that "this has all happened before and will all happen again." And now, that prophecy is coming true, again. On Tuesday, news broke that NBC's new streaming service, Peacock, will debut a new version of Battlestar Galactica written and produced by Sam Esmail, famous for his work on Mr. Robot. But, because Battlestar has already been rebooted, and kind of recently, the newly announced series is either a losing sci-fi gamble or the best reboot idea in years. Back in 2003, the late Richard Hatch actively tried to sabotage the Sci-Fi Channel's "reimagining" of Battlestar Galactica.

This article was originally published on the Motley Fool. Science fiction has regularly dealt with the idea that artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to humanity's end (or at least its near end). In the Terminator series, a sentient computer system, Skynet, realizes that the best way to keep the world safe (and protect its own existence) is to wipe out mankind. In Battlestar Galactica, robots created as servants slowly outgrow their programming and come to the realization that they, not their human creators, should exist. It's easy to see why the idea makes for good books and movies.

It may only be one metre tall, but a R2-D2 droid has just become one of the most valuable pieces of Hollywood memorabilia ever sold. The robot, which was used in several Star Wars films, sold at auction this week for a staggering £2.13 million ($2.76 million). While those who haven't seen the Star Wars films might see this as a big investment, experts claim that the droid is the'creme de la creme of movie props' and something that you could'put next to a Picasso.' The robot, which was used in several Star Wars films, sold at auction this week for a staggering £2.13 million ($2.76 million) The R2-D2 droid was sold by Profiles in History, an auction house based in Calabasas, California, as part of its Hollywood Auction. The one metre (43 inch) tall unit was compiled from parts used throughout filming of the original Star Wars trilogy, from 1977-1983.

For die-hard fans of the Syfy drama "Battlestar Galactica," the closing night reunion panel at the ATX Television Festival was a treat-filled trip down memory lane. Seven key cast members -- Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama), Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin), Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck), James Callis (Gaius Baltar), Tricia Helfer (Number Six), Grace Park (Boomer/Number Eight) and Michael Trucco (Sam Anders) -- and executive producer Ronald D. Moore came together to celebrate the groundbreaking series that was as much post-9/11 allegory as it was grand space adventure. The "BSG" gang still clearly enjoy each other's company and had both the audience and each other cracking up throughout the nearly two-hour Q&A session at Austin's Paramount Theatre. From awkward sex scenes (Callis and Helfer) to uncontrollable giggles (McDonnell and Sackhoff) to Olmos's Adama-like leadership qualities, the cast mates and Moore fondly recalled funny and touching moments from their time on the series, which ran from 2004 to 2009. Callis recalled a scene in which he fell and hit his head requiring a trip to an emergency room.

Hollywood has always been interested in science--and has employed consultants to get it right throughout most of its history. It's a relationship, though, that has been controversial at times, and in this article we look at how technical advisors resolve the tension between accurate science and dramatic storytelling. As an investigator and science planning engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Kevin Grazier, Ph.D., spends a lot of time with his head in the stars. Most days, he's concerned with the Cassini/Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan. But every now and then he wrestles with the challenges of a more far-out world: "Battlestar Galactica"--a contemporary remake of the classic 1979 television show.

CBS passed on the show during the pitch process. NBC saw the first pilot, an episode called "The Cage" starring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike, and rejected it. The network asked for another pilot, but creator Gene Roddenberry was already working on other projects, including a cop show called Police Story. And even though NBC asked for a second pilot, the show's studio, Desilu Productions, didn't want to pony up any cash to make it. Star Trek, it seemed, would never make it to air.