The claims made by Proyas have been met with scepticism online, however, with some claiming his own film is derivative. Several people replied to his post on X with images of the feminised cyborg in Fritz Lang's German expressionist film, Metropolis, from 1927. But it is not the first time people have queried whether tech companies look to sci-fi cinema and novels for ideas - especially as firms develop new gadgets and robotics to capitalise on interest in generative artificial intelligence (AI). Mr Musk has previously said he was inspired by Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which features humanoid robot Marvin the Paranoid Android. Grok, his AI chatbot "with a little humour" designed for use on X, was later revealed to be modelled on it.

BBC sources have said the Edinburgh Festival provided a good platform during which to trial the use of AI to direct shows. A source said: "At the festival there are hundreds and hundreds of shows and events and we can't afford to have hundreds and hundreds of directors. Using AI to direct something like panel show, which is fairly similar in format form one to the other, would enable us to broadcast more of those events." The BBC is already using AI to improve its iPlayer service by introducing programme recommendations as soon as the credits start rolling, rather than at the end of the broadcast, where they are less effective. The AI identifies when to play the recommendations, despite that moment not being marked in the show's metadata.