The Machine

[Cray]

Curious - both films make a similar assumption, that artificial intelligence will need a human-like body in order to function.

In the case of "The Machine," the AI starts off in a briefcase-sized box and spent its early development in the box. After its creator is murdered and the AI stolen, it is given a humanoid body specifically because the British military was looking for a replacement for human soldiers. That wasn't necessary for the AI to function or evolve since that had largely finished in a box, but rather so Britain could kill Bad Guys with cool robo-karate action.

(Though when questioned as to what made it happy, the AI answered something to the effect of, "Not being in the darkness." (The box apparently only had microphones.])

There is a nice stretch of the movie where the AI adapts to the body and learns to apply it in real world situations, such as the dance scene I mentioned earlier. (Also: don't try to scare her while wearing a clown mask.) Then a military training montage, and a series where the AI's moral inhibitions against killing are overcome.

Going only on the trailer I've seen of Ex Machina, I believe the humanoid body is a deliberate choice by the AI's creator/CEO to screw with the minds of Turing testers rather than to benefit the AI's development. The CEO is using an attractive female form to influence male tester reactions, but also deliberately making it obvious the gynoid is undeniably a robot. Turing tests are harder when you're not just talking to a computer screen.