These questions hang in the air that surrounds David, a robot boy. He is the prototype of a new robot, the first “mecha,” or mechanically based being, to be programmed to love. His creator, Dr. Allen Hobby, played by William Hurt, speaks passionately about the exciting advances in technology David represents.

His theory is that once “mechas” have been imprinted to love, they will begin to develop on their own the more human qualities of intelligence. But creating mechanically based intelligence is not the real purpose of his efforts. His work is product development: creating robot children so human like they can be successfully marketed to childless couples. Dr. Hobby is an employee of Cybertronics, one of the many computer companies serving needy consumers.

David has been created in a future where greenhouse gases have melted the polar caps. Millions of people have died from flood and famine. Coastal cities are gone, but the first world has survived and prospered by rationing resources. To have a child, you must get permission from the government, and that is no easy feat.

David is given to Monica (Frances O’Connor) and Henry (Sam Robards). Henry is an employee of Cybertronics, and he and Monica are deemed the perfect test couple for David because their own son is frozen until a cure for his disease can be found.

Despite being impressive and very watchable as a technical accomplishment, A.I. presents such a prosaic vision of the future, it isn’t very engaging. And because the future looks so dull, the big questions raised by the situation presented fail to stimulate much sympathy or interest in what happens.

What we see of the future begins at home. Monica is at first frightened and spooked by David, who follows her like a puppy. No wonder neurotic Monica was so miserable in her childlessness. She hangs around the house doing laundry with no friends, no interests, and no connection to the world while Henry goes off to work.

We’re suppose to sympathize with the great tragedy of her childlessness, but if a robot is a suitable substitute, a child is only the ultimate lifestyle accessory, not an outlet for any true giving of one person to another. Monica needs to get a life, not a baby.

David is creepy. Technology has made him look real, but he is very primitively programmed. His cry of “mommy” is very needy, but except for love, he has no needs. He doesn’t need to be reminded to brush his teeth or coaxed to eat his vegetables. Haley Joel Osment delivers a very convincing, eerie performance.

David has been programmed so primitively that the only love he craves is the love of his mother. A.I. becomes a weird Oedipal variation. I’m sure Freud would be pleased and fascinated, but focusing so completely on mother and son leaves out so many variations of love, David doesn’t, and can’t, really evolve.

Outside of the home things aren’t very encouraging. Shortage of resources means babies have to be licensed, but there’s no shortage of electricity for garish neon signs and other signs of decadence in “Rouge City.” People drive cute little futuristic cars and have backyard cookouts by the pool. Manhattan has flooded and has become the end of the world, a cross between Planet of the Apes (you can see a little more of the Statue of Liberty) and Waterworld.

Some humans hate mechas and spend their free time in a WWF-like atmosphere watching them get boiled in acid and spit through metal choppers. Other humans not only tolerate mechas, they rely on them to clean house and do various other tedious tasks, though we see very little interaction between people and mechas to understand this relationship.

There is Gigolo Joe, a lover robot mecha programmed to service women, who livens up A.I. considerably. Jude Law, looking like he has been dipped in wax, gives Gigolo Joe so much personality that, though he doesn’t look as sophisticated as David, he seems much more human. He may not know how to love, but he knows when he is in danger and has the very human quality of self-preservation.

Perhaps viewing James Cameron’s work is verboten in the Spielberg universe, but any episode of “Dark Angel” posits a resource-deficient, post-apocalyptic United States with more flair than the very white bread A.I.

David longs to be a “real” boy, and Pinocchio becomes his Scripture. Because this is a Steven Spielberg film, the Pinocchio theme is relentlessly hammered home, and A.I. must be more of a fairy tale, complete with adorable robot teddy bear, than a provocative exploration of what our future might be.

I doubt A.I. will satisfy either Kubrick fans or Spielberg fans. I think everyone hoped that the collaboration would turn the film into something tremendous, but it feels more like a muddle of the best and worst of the both of them.