Apple TV might have just knocked Severance off its top spot, as far as sci-fi thrillers go. Pluribus, created by Breaking Bad's Vince Gilligan, debuted to an instant 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and social media is awash with rave reviews.
One viewer described Pluribus as “absolute cinema” and racked up thousands of “likes” in agreement. “Not to be all sappy and shit but… that was genuinely one of the best pilots I've seen ever,” someone else said of the opening episode, while a third added: “I'm so glad to be living during the same time that Vince Gilligan is making TV shows.”
Amongst the positive reactions, there is also a common question from viewers: Is Pluribus about AI? Let's discuss.
Is Pluribus about AI?
Apple TV's synopsis for Pluribus is pretty simple (read: “The most miserable person on Earth must save the world from happiness”), and the mysterious storyline leaves a lot to interpretation. In the series, the world has been overtaken by a wave of forced happiness, with billions of people essentially becoming one hive mind. Just a handful of people are immune, and protagonist Carol finds herself on a quest to uncover what's really going on...and save humanity.
What exactly Carol is saving humanity from, however, isn't clear. But viewers think it's something to do with AI. “Vince Gilligan perfectly captured how maddening it feels to watch everyone around you surrender to AI, while they act like you're the crazy one for having critical thinking skills,” one person shared on X. Someone else described the series as a “scathing piece about humanity and AI thus far” while another said, “Pluribus is the most obviously anti-AI show I've ever seen. It's peak.”
“Pluribus kind of encapsulates how it feels that everyone around you is enthusiastically using AI. Why are you not thinking for yourself? Why are you excited to not have your own thoughts and opinions?” a fourth viewer wrote, as another suggested the Pluribus “virus” is an “allegory for AI that strips us of our autonomy, creativity, and individuality.”
Someone else had a theory that those “immune” to the Pluribus virus are actually just those who are yet to adopt AI use. “I think it's at least partially an allegory for everyone using AI and a few people holding out against it,” they shared.
So, is Plurbius actually about AI? Here are all the clues and theories to suggest it is...
Clues that Pluribus is about AI
The credits disclaimer
Eagle-eyed viewers have noticed a nod to the theme of Pluribus being about AI. There's an unusual disclaimer in the credits, which reads: “This show was made by humans.”
Vince Gilligan’s distaste for AI
Pluribus creator Gilligan has explicitly stated his strong dislike for AI, calling it “the world's most expensive and energy-intensive plagiarism machine.”
“I hate AI,” he recently told Variety, adding that it's “horseshit” and basically a money-making machine for billionaires who want to “become the world's first trillionaires.”
That's not all he's said, either. “If you really want to wake me in a cold sweat at three in the morning, AI is the stick to poke me with,” he exclaimed to Rolling Stone.
The Hive Mind in Pluribus
Viewers theorize the Hive Mind that everyone on earth has become in Pluribus is an analogy for AI and the likes of ChatGPT.
“ChatGPT is really nice and knows everything. Humanity will eventually lose everything that makes life worth living as we merge with AI,” someone said on Reddit, drawing a comparison with the Hive Mind on Pluribus. “I think Hive is essentially an AI,” someone else suggested. “[It] is made up of the memories of all the humans it consumed.”
All of this being said, Gilligan has noted several times that he came up with the concept for Pluribus nearly a decade ago, which is quite some time before AI reached the prevalence it has now, and long before ChatGPT was released to the public. So, while there are some convincing signs that the series is an analogy of AI's impact on humanity, the verdict on that is still out...unlike the remaining episodes, which may help us figure this all out!
