Artificial intelligence was introduced into the world two years ago, taking the world by storm. Companies like OpenAI, Google and Meta started to release their artificial intelligence software, like ChatGPT and service bots on their websites. Of course, artificial intelligence is nothing new to the world, as video games tend to have their own AI characters tied into the story. Most notably, GlaDOS from Portal and Cortana from the Halo franchise, both act as an antagonist right off the bat or later down the line. Movies are no stranger to artificial intelligence, either. Throughout the years, AI has been used for sci-fi movies, with Data from Star Trek being the most iconic.
But there are always certain similarities with both genres and AI characters in general. They almost always serve as a main antagonist or start off as a protagonist, only to turn against the good guys. There are plenty of examples with this kind of character development, usually taking place in America much later in the future with further technological advancements. But what about other countries? This is where the 15-year-old movie “9” starts, releasing back on Sept. 9, 2009.
9 is a movie about war, which is brought by none other than artificial intelligence. Though not referenced directly, there are already debuts of these AI machines of war. Soldiers are seen firing their artillery at long legged machines with their own artillery weapons, in which the giant machines quickly exterminate a majority of the soldiers, before finishing off the rest off with the infamous mustard gas. Immediately, the theme of human war has started to cease, with it instead being machine war. Obviously, these machines are not here to play around.
The protagonists of the story are smaller robots, appearing as ragdolls by the name of Stitchpunks, though they go by the number written on their front side. With the Stitchpunk 9 being rescued by Number 2, but later being kidnapped by a mechanical dog-like monster. This leads 9 to revolt against the group of Stitchpunks to rescue 2, aided by Number 5, as their leader Number 1 only wants to hide to prevent their demise. All of this eventually leads up to the awakening of the Fabrication Core, who waged war against humanity as a whole due to the absence of a soul within it.
First off, as I stated before, this story does not appear to take place in America. Even though it is not specifically mentioned, it can be concluded that it takes place in the Soviet Union. This is because of the foreign flags that look to be a mockup of the Soviet flag, a newspaper showing the date 1930, and the presence of a dictator, who was the reason the Fabrication Machine waged against humanity. The Fabrication Machine is also one of my favorite rogue AIs present in the media. It was created for science, but was instead forced into building “peace” machines in its image, seemingly for the sole purpose of law enforcement and war.
In my opinion, 9 really depicts a future scene of what the world could come to, but from the viewpoint of the past and a different country’s perspective. AI only has the use and purpose of chatting and answering questions, but this could be considered the “younger generation” of artificial intelligence. Companies have already shown off robotic humanoids that are capable of environment recognition, maybe even some sort of sentience. Though everyone has been focused on how America has used and developed AI, but other countries are already started to develop their own.
Other large countries have began to research and create AI, such as Russia and China, but of course war is not in the question yet. Like many other movies, war with or against AI always takes place in the far future. But movies like Ready Player One, The Oasis made its debut in 2024, which can be viewed as Meta and their AI programs implemented into virtual reality. But as for 9, I would recommend it for anyone interested in older depictions of artificial intelligence, or just enjoy doomsday or war movies, leaning more on a fictional standpoint than a real on. Hopefully we can always see these movies as fiction, hoping something like will never occur.
