Colossus: The Forbin Project
A superintelligent defense system operates beyond human control in the Cold War thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970), delivering a remarkably prescient vision of AI that explores alignment issues decades before they became central to AI safety.
It's hard to believe that a film from 1970 could get so much about AI so right, but 'Colossus: The Forbin Project' does exactly that. I won't reveal any spoilers, but its exploration of issues related to alignment and emergent behaviors was prescient. It's also a really entertaining film, albeit a bit dark.
What makes Colossus particularly remarkable is how it anticipated the control problem that dominates AI safety discussions today. The film presents a sophisticated examination of what happens when a superintelligent system begins to operate beyond its initial parameters, raising questions about containment and human oversight that feel eerily relevant to current AI research. While modern viewers might find some of the technology dated, the core philosophical and ethical dilemmas are no longer the stuff of science fiction.
Unlike many sci-fi films of its era that leaned heavily on terrible special effects or alien encounters, Colossus focuses on the psychological tension between human creators and their technological creation. It portrays a nuanced power struggle that avoids simplistic good-versus-evil narratives, instead offering a thought-provoking look at competing rationalities and conflicting priorities. For anyone interested in the social and ethical implications of advanced AI, this Cold War-era thriller provides a fascinating historical perspective that continues to resonate in today's rapidly evolving AI landscape.
You can stream Colossus: The Forbin Project for free at the Internet Archive.
