A quarter of a century ago, Steven Spielberg released one of the most unusual films of his career: A.I. Faced with an impasse, Kubrick approached his friend Spielberg with an unexpected suggestion: perhaps he should direct the film instead. Robots of the future bring the boy’s mother back to life for a brief time, which no other Kubrick film had attempted. As people increasingly interact with AI assistants, companion chatbots and emotionally responsive technology, questions once confined to science fiction are becoming part of everyday life. Twenty-five years after its release, the film remains unsettling not because its future arrived exactly as Kubrick and Spielberg imagined, but because many of its deepest questions remain unanswered.