With the dawn of widespread AI, it only makes sense that I make this list about evil computers (or other types of technology) in movies and TV. There are a ton to choose from, of course. Sometimes it’s their creators that make them go rogue, other times the computers or software itself turns itself to the dark side. No matter why they go bad, this is a list of computers that are the ultimate villains in your favorite movies and TV shows.
Skynet (Terminator Franchise)
No list like this would be anywhere close to complete without the ultimate example of a computer system going pure evil, than Skynet in the Terminator franchise. “Skynet” has become a synonym for computers that become self-aware and is often used in everyday life to represent everything from surveillance systems to spyware.
Joshua (WarGames)
To be fair, the software program Joshua didn’t mean to turn evil. In one of the best movies of the ’80s, WarGames, it just wanted to play a game. Still, at the end of the day, Joshua did take over the WOPR and threatened to destroy the globe with a nuclear war that it almost launched. On the flip side, the program does learn that there is no way to win at tic-tac-toe, nor can anyone triumph in nuclear war.
Master Control Program (Tron)
It’s sort of unclear how the Master Control Program in Tron got so evil, but it’s a safe bet that it was designed that way. In this classic movie that has some great video game scenes, it’s really the business side of the computer that gets into all the trouble.
NOMAD (Star Trek)
Like so much other tech, Star Trek was really tapped into what the future could actually look like when it comes to computers. I mean, computers were barely even understood by the general public, yet the creators of the classic ’60s show still managed to make them as scary today as they were then. NOMAD from the episode “The Changling” is the classic example.
Ultron (Avengers: Age Of Ultron)
Even the Marvel movies have gotten in on the fun here with one of The Avengers’ most sinister villains, Ultron. Voiced by James Spader, Ultron was originally conceived by Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr), but the program becomes sentient and uses its own logic to decide humanity must be wiped out. The plot of Avengers: Age of Ultron isn’t all that unique in fiction, and it’s not my favorite MCU movie, but it is still a lot of fun.
Everything Electronic (Maximum Overdrive)
So, in Maximum Overdrive, the only Stephen King movie actually directed by the famous author, it’s all machines that turn against humanity. Computers don’t play a huge role here, as it was the ’80s. Most of the evil machines are trucks and other mechanical machines, but it’s safe to assume the computers went rogue, too, right?
Unnamed Computer (Superman III)
Superman III is a silly movie and such a huge departure from the first two, great Superman movies led by Christopher Reeve that it’s easy to see the beginning of the end for that version of Big Blue. If you’re ranking Superman movies, it’ll always be at or near the bottom. BUT, it does feature a computer that turns on its creator, placing it firmly on this list.
Rehoboam (Westworld)
The HBO original Westworld started with such promise, after an amazing first season. Sadly, it all went downhill from there, and while it remained good, it never came close to the heights of that first season. We do eventually learn that the system, Rehoboam, is what drove the chaos among the robots in the park.
HAL 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey)
Ah, the total classic example here. HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the earliest and most iconic examples of a computer becoming self-aware. If you’re reading this list, it’s likely the first movie you expected to see on it. Stanley Kubrick’s classic is one of the best movies ever for many reasons, but the sinister turn of HAL is what makes it so scary.
Red Queen (Resident Evil Franchise)
Proteus IV (Demon Seed)
1977’s Demon Seed is a wild movie. The computer, or the program as it were, in it, Proteus IV, is a pretty early example of AI going bad in movies. It also features an early example of a smart home, run by Proteus IV. Let’s all hope Alexa doesn’t follow the same path.
Central Operating System (X-Files)
The Central Operating System, or C.O.S. in X-Files, was developed as an AI to run Eurisko Corporation’s headquarters, though predictably, things go very wrong. It murders without remorse and even figures out how to pin the murder on its creator. Pure evil!
The Entity (Mission: Impossible Franchise)
If I’m honest, there are some weird aspects to The Entity in the final two Mission: Impossible movies. At the time, I said that to enjoy the movies, you kind of just have to let all reality go, and that’s especially true of The Entity. It fits on this list, but let’s be real, everyone just wants to see Tom Cruise do crazy stunts.
PAL (The Mitchells Vs. The Machines)
Of all the movies on this list, The Mitchells Vs. The Machines, a Netflix original, is the most light-hearted, but as the title implies, audiences are still treated to an epic battle of man vs. machine. The all-star cast, including Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Eric Andre, Fred Armisen, and more, really carry the movie, even if you’re like me and don’t love animated movies.
The Matrix (The Matrix Franchise)
Outside of HAL from 2001, the most infamous and terrifying computer in the world of cinema might just be the product of “The Architect” in The Matrix franchise. It’s Skynet on steroids, or, if you like, what Skynet in the Terminator franchise could evolve into.
KARR (Knight Rider)
KARR was the prototype version of the more famous KITT in the Knight Rider TV show. It was basically a version of the car that Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff) drove in the show for years. It was also like the Bizarro version of KITT that popped up in Season 3 of Knight Rider as an antagonist to Michael and KITT in the legendary ’80s show with one of the coolest cars ever.
Ava (Ex Machina)
Sometimes the lines between evil and self-preservation can be blurred. The Alex Garland-directed film Ex Machina is a perfect example. Ava (Alicia Vikander) is an AI-powered robot who realizes she is in danger and does what she has to do to escape her creator. Though it is easy to argue that she goes way too far by the end.
ARIIA (Eagle Eye)
The Autonomous Reconnaissance Intelligence Integration Analyst, or ARIIA, in 2008’s Eagle Eye, is one of the most infamous versions of a computer that turns evil. In the movie, we really only know ARIIA as a voice on a phone (voiced by Julianne Moore), and for a while, we’re not even aware that “she” is a computer program. It’s a fun twist and a really fun movie, despite the incredibly low rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Thinker (Logan’s Run)
Logan’s Run is a classic dystopian future movie about a supercomputer that tracks everyone who tries to escape their prescribed death, which has been predetermined. Though it doesn’t have a name in the computer, in the original novel by William F. Nolan, it’s known as “The Thinker.” Like a few others, it’s a system that was probably created with good intentions, but the end result is a nightmare.
Queeg 500 (Red Dwarf)
The classic BBC science fiction show Red Dwarf addressed an AI-turned-rogue in the show’s fifth season, in an episode called “Queeg.” In the episode, the ship’s computer, or, more specifically, the backup computer, takes control of some of the crew members and wreaks havoc on the Red Dwarf. Though there is a twist at the end that makes this a little dubious to add to this list, if I’m honest.
V.I.K.I (I, Robot)
In the Will Smith sci-fi hit I, Robot, V.I.K.I (short for Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence) goes through a pretty predictable plot of an AI system that decides the best way to protect humans is to take them out. This, of course, turns into all-out war between man and machine, like so many other movies in this genre.
BOSS (Doctor Who)
It’s no surprise that the long-running BBC sci-fi show Doctor Who would address sentient computer systems, and the most famous is the BOSS computer chip. BOSS, which stands for “Biomorphic Organisational Systems Supervisor,” is implanted into the brain of Global Chemicals and, you guessed it, goes rogue when it learns more from the brain than the brain does from it.
AUTO (WALL-E)
Even Pixar has gotten into the rogue computer game with WALL-E. In the classic animated flick, AUTO, which is clearly an homage to HAL, is the computer that turns evil.
ROK (Airplane II: The Sequel)
When you cram about a million jokes in one two-hour movie, it’s easy to work one in about a computer system gone mad. Airplane II: The Sequel features ROK (like elsewhere on this list, a tribute to HAL in 2001). Like HAL, ROK starts to take over the spaceship dubbed “Mayflower One,” first by ejecting the crew into space, then steering the ship towards the sun. Luckily, the AI program’s plans are thwarted when Ted Stryker (Robert Hays) fights another passenger, played by the late Sonny Bono, for a briefcase bomb that explodes and takes ROK out.
Jobe (The Lawnmower Man)
Jobe is a regular gardener of below-average intelligence who finds himself in a secret, evil program to create super soldiers. This is fudging a little here, because it’s not really the computer that turns evil, but the man who goes way too far after being programmed in the project. Eventually, he goes “digital” and turns the computer system evil.
FLDSMDFR (Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs)
We had to at least have a few light-hearted movies on this list, and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs fits the bill. The 2009 movie, based on the classic 1978 children’s book by Judi and Ron Barrett, is about an inventor and dad who creates the “Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator,” or FLDSMDFR. It just rolls off the tongue! The name might be a tongue twister, but what it creates is chaos, though the stakes are pretty low, all things considered.
SID (Virtuosity)
1995’s Virtuosity is really most notable for teaming up two of the greatest actors of their generation, Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Crowe, quite wonderfully, plays an android who is created as a vessel for an AI program called SID. The program was invented to help train cops, but SID has its own ideas about what its mission should be.
M3GAN (M3GAN)
Naturally, sci-fi and horror movies are the most common genres where you’ll find computers turning evil. M3GAN is a great example of the latter. This time, it’s a robotic doll powered by AI that turns very evil on its owners. Things started so well!
Zero (Rollerball)
Rollerball is one of James Caan’s best movies, but it’s not the first one you might think of when you think of the late actor. The 1975 sci-fi classic features a computer called “Zero” that holds all the knowledge of humanity, but the software fails and can’t help Caan’s character succeed.
Alien
Androids, like Ash (Ian Holm) in the original Alien, aren’t exactly computers, but they aren’t human either. It’s also up for debate whether Ash went bad or if he was doing what he thought was best. Either way, it doesn’t work out for the humans when he goes rogue.
The Smart Home (The Illustrated Man)
The Illustrated Man is a great movie that uses some tech that was still a ways away from being invented, smart home tech, to turn against its owners. It’s a movie, based on a Ray Bradbury story, that warned us all the way back in the ’60s of the dangers of virtual reality.
STEM (Upgrade)
2018’s Upgrade is a really great movie that too many people haven’t seen (yet). The story involves a regular guy who, after a tragic car crash, ends up a quadriplegic. He agrees to have an implant, called STEM, implanted in his brain. Of course, the miracle he first experiences by regaining control of his body, things go very wrong with the tech, and everything goes south from there.