Just finished the third episode. Early comments were that it was a show about a “woke mind virus” or regular Burgerlander anti-communism, but I’m not so sure now.

spoiler

Protagonist had her drunk rant about “why are you so special, you think you’re all so great, knowing everything about everyone all the time, the amalgamation of all human knowledge and understanding SO WHAT” etc etc. Paraphrasing obviously.

I’m starting to think that this whole thing might be a big rant from Gilligan about AI. In the sense that it attempts to amalgamate all human knowledge and experience into one giant blob that we all share from together, but at the cost what makes us all unique as human beings.

I could be wrong - it’s still early in the show, but that’s the vibe I get at this point and it definitely strikes the nerve that Gilligan seems to be feeling at the moment.

They did put a “This show was made by humans” disclaimer at the very beginning, after all.

    • Sam [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
      3·
      1 month ago

      https://www.polygon.com/pluribus-episode-3-chatgpt-ai-vince-gilligan/

      But Vince Gilligan says that wasn’t what he was thinking of when he wrote Pluribus. In fact, when he first came up with the idea for the series, ChatGPT didn’t even exist.

      “I wasn’t really thinking of AI,” he says, “because this was about eight or 10 years ago. Of course, the phrase ‘artificial intelligence’ certainly predated ChatGPT, but it wasn’t in the news like it is now.”

      However, Gilligan says that doesn’t invalidate my theory.

      “I’m not saying you’re wrong,” he continues. “A lot of people are making that connection. I don’t want to tell people what this show is about. If it’s about AI for a particular viewer, or COVID-19 — it’s actually not about that, either — more power to anyone who sees some ripped-from-the-headlines type thing.”

      Seehorn takes it one step further, suggesting that the beauty of Gilligan’s work is how well its relatable storytelling maps onto whatever subject the viewer might be grappling with at the moment.

      “One of the great things about his shows is that, at their base, they are about human nature,” she says. “He’s not writing to themes, he’s not writing to specific topics or specific politics or religions or anything. But you are going to bring to it where you’re at when you’re watching.”