Steven Spielberg's 2001 film "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," released 25 years ago this month, is examined in a commentary published June 28, 2026, for its prescient take on the ChatGPT era. Set in the 22nd century after climate change has wiped out part of humanity, the film follows a humanlike robot boy named David (Haley Joel Osment), the first programmed to love. The article notes that people treat AI chatbots like primitive versions of David, projecting humanity onto technology and pulling them further from fellow humans. The film languished in development hell under Stanley Kubrick for two decades before Kubrick deferred the project to Spielberg. Upon release, critic Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle titled his review "Artificial foolishness," calling the film's bittersweet ending "precious, more shallow or more patently ridiculous."