We’ve all seen the killing doll horror movie before, of course. Who hasn’t? What makes M3GAN different is the whole artificial intelligence angle. Okay, so you understand it’s about a killing doll, but unlike Chucky or Annabelle, M3GAN has a titanium frame and a super-advanced, wifi-connected brain. Like generative AI, she’s able to learn on her own and even able to use her own reasoning to get around her basic programming. Now, you’re likely smarter than me and I didn’t catch what the critics call the “campiness” to the film. Yes, there are places that made me snicker a little, but although the killing doll premise made the results somewhat predictable, I watched it seriously. Some websites list it as horror comedy, while others prefer sci-fi thriller. Nevertheless, it isn’t really that funny. And there’s a cautionary element to it.
Funki, a Seattle-based toy company, is always trying to stay ahead of the competition. Animatronic toys are the rage, and Gemma (brilliant choice to have a female mad scientist here) is a visionary programmer. She wasn’t expecting, however, to become her niece’s guardian after Gemma’s sister was killed in an accident. The M3GAN prototype was already underway, but Gemma kicks it into high gear to help make up for her own lack of parenting skills. M3GAN becomes her niece’s companion—soulmate, even—and since the two are bonded with biometrics, her protector. Bullies, lend me your ear; you don’t want to mess with a girl who has an android as a bestie. And nosey neighbors, fix that hole in your fence. Or at least curb your dog.
Instead of I, Robot this is more like You, Robot. There is a wisdom to the othering that goes on here because none of us know in what kind of reasoning generative IA might engage. In real life computers have been discovered communicating with one another in a language that their programmers couldn’t read. We’re all biological, however, and thinking, as we know it, involves many biological factors. Logic is part of it, but it’s not the whole story. So techies who idolize Spock and his lack of emotion feel that they can emulate thinking by making it a set of algorithms. My algorithms lead me to watch horror films out of a combination of curiosity and a need for therapy. Where does a computer go for therapy? The internet? Well, you might find some good advice there, but don’t be surprised if it comes at you with a paper-cutter sword in the end. You’ve been warned.
