I, Robot and the year of 2035

Normally being quite picky with which films I rent, yesterday evening was kind of liberating. I and Philip (friend, class-mate and source of Anacott) rented I, Robot – The Will Smith version. I’ve never read Isaac Asimov’s collection of short stories with the same title, but I assume that it is something else than this blockbuster junk. It was a good evening though, and – as planned – we had some ideas about the future.



The movie itself is basically about robot development going out of hands. The first law of the robots is to never hurt a human being. But as the robots develop their thinking, they realize that some people must be eliminated in order to maximize the safety of people. The robots go for revolution. “You are so like children – you need to be protected from yourselves”, one robot states. And then there is a very special robot, named Sonny, who has developed feelings, hopes and emotions. He has an odd, kind of cute personality. He goes to sleep and says that he had even had dreams. He resists the harsh, cold hearted rationality of the robots and becomes something like a hero.

The thing I remember the most about I, Robot is the heavy product placement for Converse, Audi, FedEx and JVC. It is so apparent, it becomes comical. At the same time, I think this kind of embedded advertising will become more common in the future. As we are flooded with advertising, we learn to neglect most of it. And therefore, public relations, corporate social responsibility and masked marketing will replace traditional marketing in the future.

What also struck me with I, Robot, is the nostalgic tone that seems normative for work in the genre. Will Smith’s character wears 2004 vintage Converse shoes, uses an old JVC system and rides a gas driven motorcycle.

If we see I, Robot as a prediction of the year 2035, we can instantly notice that it is most occupied with thinking of gadgets and yes, robots, instead of behavioral changes and other invisible trends. In the movie, almost everyone is a stereotype from today. The black old woman is the stereotype of the black old woman of today. The alpha male stereotype, the business man stereotype, the researcher stereotype – all is represented with no adjustments from how it is today. That’s why the film isn’t interesting.

And besides, in 2035 I think that Converse, JVC, FedEx and Audi are lucky if they still exist. And Hollywood blockbusters won’t probably exist either, as today. I’d love to see what I’ll be like.