Face-Off: Who Is the Best AI Character?

It’s AI Week at IGN, and we’ve spent the last few days looking at everything from if AI will spell doom for animation, why ChatGPT is everywhere, and even how AI can change games forever. To end the festivities, we thought it’d be fun to look back at some of the best examples of AI in movies, TV, and games and have you decide which character is the best.

From HAL 9000 to Cortana to GLaDOS to Skynet, there have been a ton of examples of AI that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best we organics have to offer. Now, we understand the line between AI and robots can be a thin one, but we think some of our more advanced robotic and android friends are just as alive as we are and deserve some love in this Face-Off. 

Do you think Terminator 2’s T-800 claims the top spot? How about the MCU’s Ultron or Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Data? We’ve selected 103 AI characters from the most beloved movies, TV shows, and video games to “Face-Off” against each other two at a time. Will you choose Battlestar Galactica’s Cylons over the Machines from The Matrix? Mega Man over Bender? The choice is yours…

(And don’t forget, you can pass on a Face-Off round if you don’t know a character by just hitting “skip” at the bottom of the page.)

Click here to start voting in the AI Face-Off!

What Is a Face-Off?

Like the name suggests, a Face-Off pits two things against one another and you decide which one is the superior of the two. In this case, you are voting to determine which AI character from film, TV, and games is the best of the best. It’s possible to see certain characters multiple times, so you can keep voting for your favorites to ensure they get ranked higher than the rest. IGN’s resident team of games, movie and TV experts pre-selected 102 of the biggest AI characters for you to choose from. These get randomly paired up and each time you pick a winner, it’s tracked.

How Is the Winner Determined?

When voting ends on April 27, we tally up the total number of “wins” and “losses” each character has, and create a ranked list based on your choices that will be revealed on April 28. The character that won the most matchups will be crowned the “winner,” and in the event of a tied number of “wins,” the character with the least “losses” will take the top spot. If you continue to keep voting for your favorite character, they’ll have a better chance of ranking high on the list. You can vote as many times as you want until the Face-Off closes.

How Do I Know When I’ve Clicked Through Everything?

It’s difficult to know when you’ve seen every AI character included because they are matched randomly and there are so many possible match-ups. Playing until you vote for all your favorites or ensuring that certain characters don’t get in the winner’s circle are different options you can take with a Face-Off. By deciding the winner throughout all these match-ups, you’re ensuring that your picks for your favorite AI characters will have a fighting chance to reach the top of the list.

Which AI Characters Have Been Included?

The list of the best AI characters included in this Face-Off has been decided by IGN staff, and we’ve tried to include the most characters from movies, TV shows, and video games. We know the line between AI and a standard robot can be a thin one, but we just had to include some of our more advanced robotic friends as they deserve as much love as any of us. We decided this means any character or program that appears to think for itself in any way and shows that they are more than just a pile of parts or a machine that has one simple function. 

Click here to start voting in the AI Face-Off!

For more on IGN’s AI week, check out Tim Sweeny, CD Projekt, and more weighing in on AI, how AI can improve accessibility, how gamers are creating brand-new RPGs using ChatGPT, five AI projects you can try right now, and 10 of the most evil AI in movie and TV history.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.