Trivia / A.I.: Artificial Intelligence

• Actor-Inspired Element: Haley Joel Osment came up with the idea that since David is a mecha, he shouldn't be able to blink. Steven Spielberg loved the idea and extended it to all of the mechas, though Gigolo Joe can be seen blinking a few times.
• Defictionalization: So very many of the possibilities and problems of "lover robots" predicted in this film are already beginning to be realized in real life. Gigolo Joe's claim that "Once you've had a lover robot, you will never want a real man again" is clearly no idle boast, as human sex workers have already been trying to drive out sex doll brothels on the grounds that they're unfair competition.
• Doing It for the Art: Steven Spielberg made this movie solely to make the late Stanley Kubrick's dream project a reality. He even went through with Kubrick's idea for the ending knowing full well he would be Misblamed for it, since it was sappier than Kubrick's usual fare, all because Kubrick was his friend and Spielberg wanted to keep his vision alive.
• Fake American: Australian Frances O'Connor plays Monica.
• Saved from Development Hell: Kubrick read the story and hired the author to write a treatment in the early 1970s, invited Spielberg to work with him in 1985, and only decided to take the project off after Spielberg's '93 productions (Schindler's List made Kubrick give up on a similar adaptation, and Jurassic Park convinced him that CGI could bring the project to life). Then he wanted to start the project after Eyes Wide Shut, but his eventual death in 1999 led Spielberg to take over and bring it to fruition.
• Technology Marches On: Dr. Know is basically a public database with a fancy interface that can answer any question you have. In effect, it's just a less convenient version of Google that you have to pay to use.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Stanley Kubrick was the original director, but the film languished in Development Hell until Kubrick died in 1999.
  • Gigolo Joe was originally conceived by Kubrick as a GI Mecha, but screenwriter Thomas Watson suggested changing him to a male prostitute.
  • Chris Cunningham was originally the special effects supervisor when the project was being developed in the early '90s. None of his work ended up in the final film.
  • Part of the reason Kubrick's vision of the film languished in Development Hell for so long was was because he wanted the main character to be played by an actual robot. As of this writing, such robots are still impossible.
  • Joseph Mazzello was cast as David at one point, but by the time the film was brought out of Development Hell he was too old for the role.
  • At least three officially licensed video games based on the film were proposed at various points, with one of them being considered as a potential launch title for the original Xbox (which was released the same year as this film).

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