50 Years After Its Release, How '2001: A Space Odyssey' Helped Predict the Future

Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi masterpiece, "2001: A Space Odyssey," is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month and though many years have passed, there are many aspects of the future that the visionary director predicted. 

In the film, a talking computer named HAL 9000 helps guide Dave, an astronaut, through outer space. However, HAL becomes devious and homicidal due to its power as the film goes on. 

Many have compared HAL’s talking abilities to Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri in how a device can interact and communicate with humans. 

Hopefully Alexa or Siri won’t turn destructive like HAL. 

The film also predicted commercial space shuttle flights which Elon Musk is trying to bring about.

In one scene, Kubrick had a scientist video call his daughter back on Earth. In 1968, that notion may have seemed absurd; however, thanks to Skype, FaceTime and other video chat apps, it is now a regular part of modern society. 

Just like today, the film had flat screen monitors for the computers on the ship which is unlike the bulky box screens most systems had between the 1960s and the 1990s. 

One aspect of Kubrick's space adventure, however, does not stand up: In it, Pan Am is the company providing the commercial flights, but that company went out of business in 1991. 

Fifty years later, "2001," still leaves audiences in awe and wonderment. 

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