The failure of A.I. Artificial Intelligence – Cracking the Kube, Ep. 6
This is the first comprehensive account of Stanley Kubrick’s work on A.I. Artificial Intelligence, detailing every singular attempt at creating its story.
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I've updated and expanded the essay in a chapter of my new book, "Cracking the Kube: Solving the mysteries of Stanley Kubrick through archival research." Available now: https://a.co/d/hhnNlcX
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The research was conducted at the Brian Aldiss Archive (Liverpool), the Arthur C. Clarke Collection of Sri Lanka (Washington) and the Stanley Kubrick Archive (London). In particular, the presentation benefits from an exclusive access to Ian Watson’s personal archive and extensive conversations with him.
Chapters:
0:00 - Introduction
2:18 - 1st attempt: Brian Aldiss (1982/83)
4:58 - Steven Spielberg (1987)
5:29 - 2nd attempt: Bob Shaw (1989)
5:54 - 3rd attempt: Brian Aldiss (1990)
6:50 - 4th attempt: Ian Watson (1990)
10:19 - 5th attempt: Arthur C. Clarke (1991)
11:21 - 6th attempt: Ian Watson (1991)
11:54 - 7th attempt: Arthur C. Clarke (1992)
12:24 - 8th attempt: Stanley Kubrick (1993-94)
13:03 - 9th attempt: Sara Maitland
13:54 - 10th attempt: Steven Spielberg
15:05 - Kubrick's A.I. remains unmade
15:50 - Comparison between A.I. and 2001: A Space Odyssey
17:15 - Kubrick is the reason for the failure
17:49 - Exploratory approach with writers
19:24 - Kubrick as reactive genius
19:46 - Risks in the reactive approach
21:49 - Kubrick's excessive power
23:56 - Accomplishment impossible
24:31 - Coda
Sixth episode of my web series, first presented as:
Filippo Ulivieri, “A.I. Abandoned Ideas: the long and winding creative process behind Stanley Kubrick’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” @ Shadow Screens: Unmade, Unseen, Unreleased, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, 23-24 May 2022.
The interview with Steven Spielberg is by Mark Kermode, excerpted from The Culture Show, BBC2, 4 November 2006.