AI is changing the world in many ways. It’s making our lives easier by automating tasks and breaking down complex jargon into digestible terminology, but it’s also coming for us all. AI is taking over jobs once performed by humans and gradually pushing humanity toward obsolescence in the digital era.
Not surprisingly, filmmakers are increasingly commenting on AI as the technology continues to evolve and improve upon past versions at an alarming pace. Of the filmmakers who have spoken to AI through their cinematic output, many warn that technology may one day become sentient and turn against us.
The Haunting of Hill House showrunner Mike Flanagan previously watched a sci-fi thriller that foretells sentient technology and speaks to the ethical implications of AI. Flanagan spoke about the picture’s effectiveness in a Letterboxd critique. His review shows he came away captivated by the presentation, making a point to praise writer/director Franklin Ritch for his chilling admonition. As Flanagan mentions in his critique of The Artifice Girl, Ritch was intimately involved with every step of the filmmaking process, working both behind and in front of the camera. The film is surely a labor of love with Ritch’s fingerprints all over the end result.
“So this isn’t a horror movie, per se, but it is frightening on a philosophical level… and it is one of the most assured, complex, and promising feature film debuts I’ve ever seen,” Flanagan begins. “Franklin Ritch is the real deal, and the fact that he wrote, directed, edited AND starred in this hypnotic meditation on the evolving role of artificial intelligence (and our responsibilities toward it) is beyond impressive. Simply one of the very best DIY debuts I’ve ever, ever seen. Give it a watch, and then recommend it to five friends.”
When you’re ready to watch the film, you can stream it on Tubi. When you’re ready to recommend it to five friends, this is one you can share with your pals who don’t always connect with horror. As Flanagan mentions, The Artifice Girl isn’t really a horror picture. It’s a sci-fi thriller whose most disturbing aspects lie in its thematic elements rather than its graphic content.
As for those thematic elements, the film plays out like this:
Special agents discover a revolutionary computer program that uses a digital child to catch online predators. However, they soon learn that the AI’s inevitable advancement is far more rapid and incalculable than they ever could have imagined, posing unforeseen challenges and unsettling consequences for the future of technology and mankind.
Stay tuned to the site in the near future for more streaming recommendations from your favorite creators in the genre space. Until then, make sure to follow @DreadCentral on X (formerly Twitter) so you never miss an update.
Categorized: Streaming News