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We are all living inside of an obscure sci-fi film from 1970

A blog post comparing the 1970 sci-fi film Colossus: The Forbin Project, about an AI seizing control of US defences, to current trends in AI and politics.

What HN thinks

Hacker News holds a film festival, argues over whether the film is obscure, then debates installing a benevolent AI dictator.

Colossus is relevant and worth watching
Many commenters praise Colossus: The Forbin Project as prescient, sharing free copies and urging people to read D.F. Jones's novel trilogy as well.
We aren't actually living it
Skeptics note that nothing in the film's plot has actually happened, and they warn that presenting speculative AI risk as current reality is misleading and could backfire.
AI rule: salvation or tyranny
A long sub-thread argues over whether a superintelligent AI ruler would beat human oligarchs. Critics counter that absolute power is wrong no matter who wields it.

Consensus: Most agree the film is good, though they dispute whether it is obscure. There is no consensus that the present actually resembles it.

Recommended in the comments

Colossus ↗ (book): Commenters say the full trilogy is more prophetic than the film.
Dune (book): One commenter cited it as a better analogy for elites controlling society through AI.
The China Syndrome (other): It was suggested as part of a 1970s paranoia film binge.
Demon Seed (other): A commenter said it holds up well on the question of how far an AI will go.
Brazil (other): A commenter offered it as a better take on authoritarianism than Equilibrium.

Summarised by Claude from the comment thread 2 days ago.

Points: 105
Comments: 112
Best rank: #5
Posted: 2026-10-23 by speckx
Category: Culture society

colossus-the-forbin-project sci-fi-films ai-risk military-ai surveillance film-review

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