Being originally a Kubrick's project, I wondered sometimes about what Kubrick saw in it, and what's the kubrickian theme under the, well, cartload of saccharine

Being originally a Kubrick's project, I wondered sometimes about what Kubrick saw in it, and what's the kubrickian theme under the, well, cartload of saccharine that Spielberg threw on it. A vague possibility is that the story is about a machine that is programmed to require love, and because of that desperately searches for someone to love it until- and that's the punchline- aliens come and build a machine for it that finally wants to love it, so they're both mechanically happy. I can picture Kubrick cynically grinning at the idea.