AI and Chatbots as Story Elements -- "Vince Gilligan has licked that cupcake"

[Gaugamela]

1. Pluribus isn't explicitly about AI, although of course it can be viewed as a kind of

allegory about AI. It can also be viewed as commentary on tribalism or social contagion (MAGA, political correctness, fashionable opinions).

To me, Pluribus is a meditation and thought experiment on privilege and inequality. The main character, Carol, lives a sheltered life of wealth and privilege by writing vapid romance novels which allow her fans a brief escape from their usual grind and worries. Once the virus hits the tables are turned. The global population escapes from suffering and want, but Carol is trapped in what she considers their vapid reality. She wants to return to the way things were at everyone else’s expense, to an existence where she felt comfortably insulted and superior to those around her. This was highlighted in the 7th episode when the guy from Paraguay confronts the Darien Gap. We see the scattered clothing and plush toys the children had to leave behind. In this new world no one is so desperate as to need to undergo this ordeal.

But of course no utopian ideal is attainable or sustainable. Since the new order won’t even kill plants for food, the population is projected to die out in a little over a decade. I expect as the show evolves Carol will grow emotionally and cognitively out of her limited worldview, and start to see the bigger picture. The Paraguayan will be interesting to watch. He seems to be meticulously ethical, refusing all assistance from the people on the one hand, and leaving cash for the gasoline that he siphons from abandoned cars on the other. As Carol represents the worldview of privilege, I expect the Paraguayan will represent the ethic of the common man, possibly a socialist. We will see a dialectic emerge in their interactions.

The problem with shows about AI is that it’s just about one thing, and presents only one narrative possibility. What makes a show like Pluribus so good is that it offers many possible interpretations. Incidentally, I also see this quality in Severence and The Truman Show. I’m sure there’s others but these two come to mind.