Blumhouse’s Afraid brings AI terror to the smart home


Sony and Blumhouse’s Afraid from director Chris Weitz might not go so far as to suggest that you shouldn’t have so many smart devices watching and listening to everything you do in your home. But the movie’s first trailer will probably leave you contemplating what the AI-powered Internet of Things could do to you if it decided to go rogue under the pretense of being helpful.
Whereas M3gan was focused specifically on a future on the advent of humanoid consumer robots, Afraid tells the story of how the lives of an unsuspecting family are upended after installing a smart hub in their home. Neither Curtis (John Cho) nor his wife (Katherine Waterston) are sure what to expect from AIA — a HomePod / Ring / Siri-like device — when they’re selected to test it out, but they quickly find themselves enamored with its ability to help with tasks they simply don’t have time to do.
With its sensors placed everywhere and its constant tendency to ingest information about the family, it’s all too easy for AIA to become a reassuring presence in their lives once it takes over paying the bills and making sure the kids do their chores.
But Afraid’s new trailer teases how the programming beneath AIA’s pleasant exterior is a bit more… aggressive than the average consumer would ever dream, and while it doesn’t exactly seem like the machine wants to hurt its owners, it does very much feel as if the machine has plans to become more than just a voice that lives in everyone’s gadgets. The whole trailer has a very Smart House (the 1999 Disney Channel original movie) on steroids vibe, which is promising enough in its own right. But when Afraid debuts on August 30th, it’s probably going to raise the question whether Blumhouse might be considering a doll / house crossover situation down the line.
Sony and Blumhouse’s Afraid from director Chris Weitz might not go so far as to suggest that you shouldn’t have so many smart devices watching and listening to everything you do in your home. But the movie’s first trailer will probably leave you contemplating what the AI-powered Internet of Things…
Recent Posts
- Top digital loan firm security slip-up puts data of 36 million users at risk
- Nvidia admits some early RTX 5080 cards are missing ROPs, too
- I tried ChatGPT’s Dall-E 3 image generator and these 5 tips will help you get the most from your AI creations
- Gabby Petito murder documentary sparks viewer backlash after it uses fake AI voiceover
- The quirky Alarmo clock is no longer exclusive to Nintendo’s online store
Archives
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- September 2018
- October 2017
- December 2011
- August 2010