I write about AI for a living and trust me, don’t watch this AI horror this Halloween
Movies with killer computers are nothing new. From Hal 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey to M3GAN, computers, dolls, and robots that become sentient and turn sinister make for a bloody good time at the cinema. It’s also the basis for many of the best sci-fi horror movies.
Nowadays, however, AI is everywhere, from inside the Mac I’m writing this article with to the smartphone you’re reading it on, it’s impossible to hide from it. And what happens when there’s a new buzzword or trend in town? Hollywood flocks to it and doubles down. Enter AfrAId, a movie about an AI that wants to kill you, and the horror film you probably shouldn’t watch this Halloween Week.
AfrAId tells the story of a family whose lives are turned upside down after the father, Curtis, brings AIA, an Alexa-esque voice assistant, into their home. For AIA to work, “eyes” are installed throughout the house, small smart home cameras, tracking everything the family does and feeding the information back to the AI assistant. It’s a pretty unsettling vision of the smart assistant future, but it’s also incredibly corny. If, like me, you spend most of your time on the internet, then you’ll have been inundated with AI information over the last few years, and because of this, AfrAId feels like AI bingo, trying to fit as many buzzwords from pop culture in as possible in just 84 minutes.
AIA can do everything, from pay the family’s bills, teach the children, and even bribe them with points to use on rewards in exchange for doing house chores – It’s all a bit ludicrous, but then again did you expect deepfakes to be as realistic as they are now just a couple years ago?
Was this written by AI?
Horror films strive on the surreal, right? So criticizing AfrAId for being unrealistic would be unfair, but when bad writing, a silly plot, and poor acting combine with a tired premise, it makes the film a genuine chore to watch.
I got about 20 minutes into the movie before I couldn’t help but sigh at every reference thrown into the mediocre script. ChatGPT, Alexa, Minecraft, Cordyceps from The Last of Us, Atrial Fibrillation, and even The Emoji Movie makes an appearance. Honestly, AfrAId is exhausting, as if a group of writers (or an AI) decided to write a movie just to tick the boxes.
You know exactly how this film goes: AIA infiltrates the home, becomes sinister, bribes the kids, and causes mayhem – it’s a simple premise, and an incredibly tired one.
So why am I writing about AfrAId? I hear you ask. Well, considering there are AI horror films being churned out faster than the next AI image generator, I thought it was my duty to watch this one, so you don’t have to. My favorite quote from AfrAId comes in the form of a sales pitch from AIA’s creators, “We want to understand people then ask their permission to tell them stories they can believe in and feel a part of. That’s how you cut through the chatter of the internet and the millions of mouths whispering at you, the millions of eyes watching you. Because that is what people want, not a product, they want empathy, connection, community.”
This quote is incredibly ironic because the film completely misses the mark on giving people what they want. AfrAId is a quick cash grab without any of the thrills you want from a horror, and even if you’re interested in AI you should just avoid it completely.