Why Doctor Who’s latest robot threat is a dangerous AI: ‘this is what’s happening’

The newest season of Doctor Who opens as the series often does â with an unsuspecting human stumbling into some alien strangeness that doesnât make any sense until an odd yet charming Time Lord shows up in a police box ready to save the day. The premiere episode, âThe Robot Revolution,â feels like classic Doctor […]

Apr 15, 2025 - 15:43

Why Doctor Who’s latest robot threat is a dangerous AI: ‘this is what’s happening’

The newest season of Doctor Who opens as the series often does â with an unsuspecting human stumbling into some alien strangeness that doesnât make any sense until an odd yet charming Time Lord shows up in a police box ready to save the day. The premiere episode, âThe Robot Revolution,â feels like classic Doctor Who as it pits the Doctor and his new companion against an army of killer machines from another planet.

Of course, the Doctor has fought squads of goofy-looking automatons countless times during Doctor Whoâs 61-yearlong run. But what makes âThe Robot Revolutionâ feel somewhat distinct is what it has to say about where these particular robots and their twisted ideology come from. When I recently sat down with showrunner Russell T. Davies, he told me that, in 2025, machines powered by artificial intelligence are exactly the kind of villains the Doctor should be tackling because Doctor Who has always been a show that uses fiction to say things about the state of our reality.

âDoctor Who always speaks of the modern world, and if I simply look out of my window at the city below me, this is what’s happening,â Davies says of AIâs increasing prevalence. âT …

Read the full story at The Verge.